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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: bat · last · date · object · fork · wound · cell · scale

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — final
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. last — finally
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bat — the animal
  7. scale — in music
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. object — a thing
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cell — a phone
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. scale — size or range
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. object — an aim
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. object — to protest
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wound — an injury
  22. date — the fruit
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. last — to go on

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