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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. mate — a friend
  4. land — to come down
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. file — a document
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. file — a line of people
  9. land — a country
  10. hand — in cards
  11. mate — to breed
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. wake — a trail
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. land — ground
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. chest — of your body
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. chest — a box
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. file — a tool
  23. hand — help
  24. mate — a partner

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