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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cold — an illness
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wake — a trail
  7. bore — to tire
  8. cold — not warm
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wound — an injury
  12. date — the fruit
  13. pop — music
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. spell — magic
  16. pop — soda
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bore — to drill
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. pop — to visit
  21. spell — letters
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. scale — in music

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