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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. present — there
  4. date — the fruit
  5. land — ground
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — hasty
  8. shower — rain
  9. bat — the animal
  10. present — a gift
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — a tin
  13. present — the time now
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. land — to come down
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. can — to be able to
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rash — a series
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — to wash

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