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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — a hat
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. last — final
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wake — a trail
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tube — a container
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. cap — of ice
  20. tube — the underground
  21. mate — a partner
  22. last — finally
  23. date — the fruit
  24. last — to go on

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