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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. mug — to rob
  6. date — the fruit
  7. mug — a cup
  8. bound — tied together
  9. clip — a video
  10. snap — to click
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — to cut
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cell — a phone
  17. clip — for paper
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. perch — the fish
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bound — certain
  23. mug — a face
  24. cell — in a prison

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