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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. date — the fruit
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. face — to point toward
  5. march — music
  6. cell — in biology
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. face — part of the head
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. march — the month
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. saw — the tool
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. face — to confront
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pound — a weight
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cell — a phone
  24. march — the month

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