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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. content — the amount
  7. net — for catching
  8. wind — moving air
  9. lie — to recline
  10. net — after costs
  11. shower — rain
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. spring — a coil
  14. content — happy
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. shower — to wash
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. net — in sport
  24. wind — moving air

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