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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. stock — shares
  3. chest — of your body
  4. perch — the fish
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. file — a document
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cap — of ice
  11. chest — a box
  12. tube — a container
  13. chest — of your body
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cap — a lid
  18. file — a line of people
  19. tube — the underground
  20. file — a tool
  21. stock — goods
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cap — a hat

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