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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. content — happy
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. ground — crushed
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — the animal
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. rock — music
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. rock — a stone
  18. content — the amount
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. ground — the earth
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — for baseball

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