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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bulb — for light
  6. face — to confront
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. game — a match
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bass — low music
  13. date — the fruit
  14. face — part of the head
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. snap — to click
  17. rush — hurry
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cold — not warm
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. game — wild animals
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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