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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 · prune · key · rule · bat · content · date · chair

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. key — the most important part
  4. content — the amount
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rule — government
  7. key — for a lock
  8. chair — a leader
  9. content — happy
  10. bat — the animal
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. date — the fruit
  15. rule — a law
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. prune — to trim
  23. key — in music
  24. bat — for baseball

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