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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — help
  5. track — a song
  6. spring — of water
  7. stand — to bear
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. content — happy
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. pit — in a race
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. track — a path
  15. content — the amount
  16. field — a subject
  17. track — to keep track
  18. spring — the season
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. hand — in cards
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pit — a hole
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com