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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. date — the fruit
  3. spring — of water
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wake — a trail
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wind — moving air
  9. scale — size or range
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. face — to confront
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. spring — the season
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — part of the head
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. scale — in music
  24. bat — for baseball

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