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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. craft — boats
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. cold — not warm
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bass — low music
  10. craft — a skill
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cold — an illness
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. stem — to come from
  16. date — the fruit
  17. bass — the fish
  18. clip — a video
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. stem — of a plant

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