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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. clip — a video
  3. date — the fruit
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. tear — from crying
  7. suit — to fit
  8. rash — a series
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rash — hasty
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cell — in biology
  18. degree — an amount
  19. suit — clothes
  20. cell — a phone
  21. clip — for paper
  22. degree — temperature
  23. suit — in cards
  24. coach — a trainer

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