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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. date — the fruit
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. last — final
  5. land — ground
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. prune — to trim
  8. last — finally
  9. prune — to trim
  10. land — to come down
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. roll — a list
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cell — a phone
  16. face — part of the head
  17. last — to go on
  18. face — to confront
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. land — a country
  24. roll — a cake

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