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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. capital — money
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — in a race
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cold — an illness
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. stand — to bear
  20. kid — child
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. capital — a city
  23. kid — to tease
  24. stand — for spectators

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