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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. game — a match
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. wind — moving air
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. game — wild animals
  9. race — a contest
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — letters
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. race — the arms race
  15. present — there
  16. date — the fruit
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. present — the time now
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. spell — a short time
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. race — humankind
  24. present — a gift

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