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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. content — the amount
  6. march — music
  7. wax — to grow
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. content — happy
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. swing — in golf
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. saw — the tool
  19. net — for catching
  20. swing — music
  21. fork — in a road
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. swing — to play on

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