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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: prune · date · track · game · bay · wind · court · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. track — a song
  7. date — the fruit
  8. court — of law
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wind — moving air
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. game — wild animals
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. chest — a box
  17. game — a match
  18. court — of a king
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. court — for sport
  21. track — a path
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. prune — to trim
  24. track — to keep track

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