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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. track — a path
  6. cell — a phone
  7. track — a song
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bulb — for light
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit

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