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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pitch — completely
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. spell — magic
  9. lie — to recline
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. perch — the fish
  12. tube — the underground
  13. spell — letters
  14. tube — a container
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. spell — a short time
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cold — not warm
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. date — the fruit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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