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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. clip — a video
  5. wax — to grow
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — to cut
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. chip — to eat
  13. court — of a king
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. chest — of your body
  16. roll — a cake
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. chip — for betting
  20. chest — a box
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. roll — a list
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — with an edge

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