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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  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. fall — the season
  2. mate — to breed
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. date — the fruit
  7. hand — help
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. march — music
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. chip — for betting
  13. hand — in cards
  14. march — the month
  15. mate — a partner
  16. chip — to eat
  17. fall — to drop
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. march — the month
  22. mate — a friend
  23. tear — to rip
  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