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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: date · mate · band · fall · racket · wake · content · court

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. content — happy
  4. fall — to drop
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. mate — a friend
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — the fruit
  9. band — a music group
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wake — a trail
  13. content — the amount
  14. court — for sport
  15. fall — the season
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. band — a ring
  24. racket — a loud noise

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