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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: rest · date · staff · mine · pitcher · rush · prune · stem

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. staff — employees
  3. rest — a break
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. staff — a stick
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. date — the fruit
  9. staff — employees
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rush — hurry
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rest — what's left
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. stem — of a plant

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