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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. hand — in cards
  7. last — finally
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. rule — government
  11. stem — to come from
  12. last — to go on
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rule — a law
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. date — the fruit
  19. hand — help
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — final

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