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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: net · last · fall · date · trunk · bound · kid · roll

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fall — to drop
  3. kid — to tease
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bound — tied together
  8. last — final
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. net — for catching
  17. roll — a list
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — finally
  21. date — the fruit
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a cake
  24. trunk — of a car

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