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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · land · tube · date · leaves · club

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. land — to come down
  7. tube — a container
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. tube — the underground
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. club — for golf
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. club — a group
  15. land — ground
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. land — a country
  18. leaves — lets stay

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