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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. spell — magic
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. spell — letters
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. march — the month
  9. court — of law
  10. prune — to trim
  11. shower — to wash
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. shower — rain
  14. march — music
  15. court — for sport
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — the month
  22. spell — a short time
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. court — of a king

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