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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. key — for a lock
  5. squash — the sport
  6. craft — boats
  7. shower — rain
  8. key — the most important part
  9. craft — a skill
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. mine — for digging
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pound — a weight
  16. stock — goods
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. shower — to wash
  20. squash — to crush
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stock — shares
  24. key — in music

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