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

Word bank: bowl · season · row · cell · chip · prune · club · date

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. cell — in biology
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. chip — to eat
  6. season — of the year
  7. prune — to trim
  8. date — the fruit
  9. club — for dancing
  10. row — to paddle
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. chip — for betting
  14. season — in sport
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. club — for golf
  18. club — a group
  19. row — a line
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cell — a phone
  24. date — on the calendar

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