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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. pop — soda
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. rest — what's left
  6. drill — army training
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. toast — bread
  9. rest — a break
  10. drill — a practice
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pop — music
  14. pit — in a race
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pop — to visit
  20. rest — what's left
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bat — for baseball
  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