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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. degree — from a university
  6. land — to come down
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a dance
  11. land — ground
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. land — a country
  15. ball — a great time
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. file — a document
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. wind — moving air
  20. date — the fruit
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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