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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. hand — help
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a document
  6. can — a tin
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. can — to be able to
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cold — an illness
  18. can — a tin
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. file — a tool
  21. cold — not warm
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. kid — child

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