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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. degree — from a university
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. spell — magic
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. cap — a lid
  14. spell — letters
  15. wake — a trail
  16. cap — a hat
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. spell — a short time
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cap — of ice
  22. pass — a permit
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cold — an illness

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