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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. track — a song
  3. date — the fruit
  4. present — there
  5. present — the time now
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. staff — a stick
  8. tear — to rip
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. present — a gift
  12. kid — child
  13. staff — employees
  14. degree — from a university
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. track — a path
  18. kid — to tease
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — temperature
  23. track — to keep track
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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