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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. rule — a law
  3. last — finally
  4. spring — the season
  5. last — final
  6. spring — of water
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. date — the fruit
  10. rule — government
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mine — for digging
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. kick — in football
  20. last — to go on
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. jam — in traffic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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