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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 · tear · cabinet · field · perch · date · wake · pitcher

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — farmland
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wake — a trail
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. field — a subject
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. field — for sport
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. hand — help
  24. tear — from crying

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