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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. rash — a series
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. roll — a cake
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — a practice
  7. rash — hasty
  8. drill — army training
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. shower — to wash
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. roll — a list
  14. pop — music
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. pop — to visit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. shower — rain
  23. pop — soda
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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