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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. snap — to click
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pop — soda
  7. cap — a lid
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. dip — to sink
  11. sharp — clever
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. pop — to visit
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. pop — music
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a music group
  23. date — the fruit
  24. date — on the calendar

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