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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — music
  6. cue — for pool
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. last — final
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. last — to go on
  11. object — to protest
  12. cue — a hint
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bat — the animal
  16. last — finally
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cue — a signal
  19. drill — a practice
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. object — a thing
  23. object — an aim
  24. drill — army training

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