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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — the animal
  7. present — a gift
  8. charge — in control
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — the fruit
  11. present — the time now
  12. stem — to come from
  13. toast — bread
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. charge — electricity
  18. charge — a price
  19. present — there
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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