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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. cap — a hat
  3. date — the fruit
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — there
  13. mark — a grade
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mark — a trace
  17. perch — the fish
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. squash — the sport

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