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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pass — a permit
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. last — to go on
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. last — finally
  9. date — the fruit
  10. ball — a dance
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. court — for sport
  13. last — final
  14. chip — to eat
  15. cap — of ice
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. shower — rain
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cap — a lid
  21. court — of a king
  22. chip — for betting
  23. shower — to wash
  24. cap — a hat

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