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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. clip — to cut
  3. charge — electricity
  4. cold — not warm
  5. object — to protest
  6. cold — an illness
  7. clip — for paper
  8. object — a thing
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. face — to point toward
  11. chest — of your body
  12. face — part of the head
  13. foot — a measure
  14. face — to confront
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chest — of your body
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. object — an aim
  19. charge — a price
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. chest — a box
  22. charge — in control
  23. clip — a video
  24. foot — the bottom

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