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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. hand — in cards
  5. spring — of water
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. chest — a box
  8. file — a line of people
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — help
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. date — the fruit
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. chest — of your body
  16. file — a document
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. file — a tool
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. deal — an agreement

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