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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — a short time
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ball — a great time
  7. mate — to breed
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — the fruit
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. tube — a container
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. spell — magic
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. tube — the underground
  16. mate — a partner
  17. file — a document
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pitcher — a jug

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