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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. band — a ring
  3. wound — an injury
  4. squash — to crush
  5. roll — a list
  6. roll — a cake
  7. chest — of your body
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. spell — a short time
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. squash — the sport
  14. spell — magic
  15. date — the fruit
  16. chest — a box
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — of your body
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. spell — letters
  24. band — a music group

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