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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. march — music
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. march — the month
  7. snap — to click
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wake — a trail
  11. march — the month
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cell — a phone
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. hand — help
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. date — the fruit
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. hand — in cards
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. toast — the most admired

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