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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. rash — hasty
  5. date — the fruit
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. present — there
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. chest — of your body
  10. present — the time now
  11. rash — a series
  12. degree — from a university
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. chest — of your body
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. degree — an amount
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. foot — a measure
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. chest — a box

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