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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. present — there
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. content — happy
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. race — the arms race
  8. date — the fruit
  9. present — the time now
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. rash — hasty
  12. bass — low music
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. race — humankind
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. content — the amount
  18. rash — a series
  19. bass — the fish
  20. fork — in a road
  21. race — a contest
  22. present — a gift
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. date — on the calendar

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