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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. last — final
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. field — farmland
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. last — to go on
  10. rock — a stone
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. last — finally
  14. degree — temperature
  15. content — the amount
  16. field — a subject
  17. degree — from a university
  18. content — happy
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. field — for sport
  21. plane — a tool
  22. date — the fruit
  23. degree — an amount
  24. plane — an aircraft

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