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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. land — ground
  3. spring — of water
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. object — a thing
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. land — a country
  10. object — an aim
  11. cold — not warm
  12. object — to protest
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. land — to come down
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. spring — the season
  18. bear — the animal
  19. spring — a coil
  20. plane — a tool
  21. date — the fruit
  22. cold — an illness
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. date — on the calendar

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