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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. cue — a hint
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. degree — an amount
  7. suit — to fit
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a ring
  11. cue — for pool
  12. perch — the fish
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. suit — in cards
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. degree — from a university
  17. suit — clothes
  18. cold — an illness
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. degree — temperature
  21. cue — a signal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  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