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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. net — in sport
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — not warm
  9. game — wild animals
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cold — an illness
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. chip — to eat
  14. pit — in a race
  15. saw — the tool
  16. pit — a hole
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. date — the fruit
  19. game — a match
  20. chip — for betting
  21. saw — the tool
  22. net — after costs
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. net — for catching

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