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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. pop — music
  3. toast — bread
  4. date — the fruit
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pop — soda
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — to visit
  11. dip — to sink
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. plane — a tool
  19. mate — a friend
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. cold — an illness
  24. stem — a stem cell

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