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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. date — the fruit
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. hand — help
  6. land — ground
  7. race — the arms race
  8. squash — to crush
  9. hand — in cards
  10. capital — a city
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. last — to go on
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. last — final
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. land — a country
  20. squash — the sport
  21. land — to come down
  22. capital — money
  23. last — finally
  24. squash — the vegetable

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