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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. cell — a phone
  4. swing — music
  5. net — after costs
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. band — a ring
  8. dip — to sink
  9. swing — to play on
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. swing — in golf
  13. date — the fruit
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — to grow
  17. net — for catching
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. net — in sport
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. band — a music group
  24. cell — in biology

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