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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mate — a partner
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. land — to come down
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. mate — a friend
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — to crush
  10. march — the month
  11. land — ground
  12. march — music
  13. squash — the sport
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. mate — to breed
  16. date — the fruit
  17. pop — music
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bark — to shout
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. land — a country
  24. sharp — clever

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