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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 it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. net — in sport
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spring — a coil
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. tear — from crying
  8. net — after costs
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. rash — a series
  12. spring — the season
  13. tear — to rip
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. date — the fruit
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. cold — an illness
  18. net — for catching
  19. tear — from crying
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. rash — hasty
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. spring — of water
  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