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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. date — the fruit
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cap — of ice
  7. degree — an amount
  8. press — to push
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cap — a lid
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — from a university
  13. spell — a short time
  14. clip — a video
  15. press — a publisher
  16. last — to go on
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — magic
  19. press — newspapers
  20. clip — to cut
  21. last — final
  22. degree — temperature
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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