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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — an illness
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. row — a line
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. fork — in a road
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. rule — a law
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. season — in sport
  12. row — to paddle
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. rule — government
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. season — of the year
  22. plane — a tool
  23. kick — in football
  24. cold — not warm

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