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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. date — the fruit
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spring — a coil
  6. chest — of your body
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chest — of your body
  10. prune — to trim
  11. spring — the season
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mark — a grade
  15. chest — a box
  16. mark — a trace
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. band — a ring
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. spring — of water
  23. band — a music group
  24. cell — in a prison

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