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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: hand · mine · calf · court · sharp · date · pit · bat

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. date — the fruit
  7. hand — help
  8. pit — a hole
  9. court — for sport
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. hand — in cards
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. court — of a king
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. court — of law
  22. pit — in a race
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. mine — for digging

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