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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: chest · prune · saw · club · bat · rash · mate · date

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. saw — the tool
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. chest — of your body
  5. saw — the tool
  6. rash — hasty
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mate — a friend
  9. club — for dancing
  10. chest — a box
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. club — a group
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chest — of your body
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rash — a series
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mate — to breed
  20. date — the fruit
  21. mate — a partner
  22. club — for golf
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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