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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — to point toward
  4. bound — obliged
  5. hand — in cards
  6. land — a country
  7. date — the fruit
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. prune — to trim
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. bound — certain
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. bound — tied together
  17. hand — help
  18. land — ground
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. land — to come down
  21. last — final
  22. prune — to trim
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. face — part of the head

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