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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cold — not warm
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rule — a law
  9. fork — in a road
  10. rule — government
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — a video
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. perch — the fish
  15. squash — to crush
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. squash — the sport
  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