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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. spell — letters
  3. last — finally
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. last — final
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wake — a trail
  9. spell — magic
  10. band — a ring
  11. last — to go on
  12. tear — from crying
  13. band — a music group
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. spell — a short time
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. tear — from crying

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