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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. date — the fruit
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. spell — letters
  7. wound — an injury
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. spell — magic
  10. roll — a list
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mark — a trace
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. mark — a grade
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. roll — a cake
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. field — for sport
  24. spell — a short time

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