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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. wake — a trail
  6. swing — to play on
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. file — a document
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. swing — in golf
  11. file — a tool
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. date — the fruit
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. capital — money
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. swing — music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. capital — a city

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