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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rest — what's left
  5. perch — the fish
  6. row — to paddle
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rest — a break
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. row — a line
  12. rash — a series
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. plane — a tool
  16. date — the fruit
  17. firm — decided
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. rest — what's left
  23. firm — a company
  24. firm — steady

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