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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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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: date · wind · plane · club · prune · pound · bat · track

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. wind — moving air
  3. track — a song
  4. date — the fruit
  5. club — for golf
  6. wind — moving air
  7. club — a group
  8. bat — the animal
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pound — a weight
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. club — for dancing
  16. prune — to trim
  17. track — a path
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — a tool
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. wind — to turn a key

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