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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. date — the fruit
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. wake — a trail
  7. root — of a plant
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. last — finally
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cell — in biology
  13. root — the cause
  14. last — to go on
  15. plane — a tool
  16. degree — an amount
  17. press — to push
  18. root — of a word
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — newspapers
  23. degree — from a university
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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