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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: pop · land · court · dip · date · last · bat · staff

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. staff — employees
  4. date — the fruit
  5. pop — music
  6. court — of law
  7. bat — the animal
  8. land — ground
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. court — for sport
  11. pop — soda
  12. last — final
  13. land — a country
  14. pop — to visit
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — a stick
  19. court — of a king
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. dip — to sink
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — finally
  24. dip — a sauce

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