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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. drill — the tool
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. capital — a city
  8. hand — in cards
  9. game — a match
  10. dip — to sink
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. spell — a short time
  13. game — wild animals
  14. hand — help
  15. spell — letters
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. drill — a practice
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. drill — army training
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. capital — money
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. spell — magic

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