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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. march — the month
  3. pit — a hole
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. date — the fruit
  7. net — in sport
  8. march — the month
  9. net — after costs
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. spring — of water
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. spring — the season
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. tube — a container
  23. march — music
  24. net — for catching

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