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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. wax — to grow
  3. file — a tool
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. field — farmland
  6. kick — in football
  7. fall — to drop
  8. file — a document
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. field — a subject
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. bear — the animal
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. field — for sport
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bear — the animal
  22. fall — the season
  23. file — a line of people
  24. fall — to drop

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