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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. season — of the year
  3. spell — letters
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. rock — music
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. sharp — clever
  8. file — a line of people
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. season — in sport
  15. file — a tool
  16. date — the fruit
  17. spell — magic
  18. file — a document
  19. march — the month
  20. spell — a short time
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. march — music
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. march — the month

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