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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. scale — size or range
  4. fine — high quality
  5. plane — a tool
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fine — all right
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wake — a trail
  16. scale — in music
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. row — a line

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