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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. present — the time now
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. rash — hasty
  7. present — a gift
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cue — a signal
  11. bat — the animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. present — there
  14. cue — for pool
  15. pit — a hole
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. clip — a video
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — a series
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. clip — to cut
  24. date — the fruit

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