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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: pit · mug · kid · wax · chest · date · bat · last

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chest — a box
  3. kid — child
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. mug — a face
  7. pit — a hole
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mug — a cup
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. pit — in a race
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. mug — to rob
  18. chest — of your body
  19. last — final
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — the animal
  22. date — the fruit
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. kid — to tease

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