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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — an illness
  4. swing — music
  5. spring — a coil
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. spring — the season
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. track — to keep track
  11. shower — rain
  12. swing — in golf
  13. swing — to play on
  14. track — a song
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. date — the fruit
  20. shower — to wash
  21. track — a path
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ruler — a monarch

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