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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: wake · fall · cue · date · band · bat · lean · row

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. cue — a hint
  3. lean — thin
  4. fall — to drop
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bat — the animal
  10. row — a line
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cue — a signal
  14. wake — a trail
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. band — a ring
  17. fall — to drop
  18. date — the fruit
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cue — for pool
  21. band — a music group
  22. fall — the season
  23. band — a rubber band
  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