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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: date · pit · kick · game · bat · perch · fall · clip

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. perch — the fish
  4. kick — in football
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bat — the animal
  8. game — a match
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. clip — to cut
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pit — in a race
  13. fall — to drop
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pit — a hole
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — with a leg
  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