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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bound — certain
  6. perch — the fish
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bound — obliged
  9. chair — a leader
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mate — a partner
  19. bound — tied together
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. mate — a friend
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bulb — for light
  24. perch — for a bird

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