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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. present — there
  3. march — music
  4. kid — child
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. march — the month
  9. date — the fruit
  10. scale — in music
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. march — the month
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kid — to tease
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. scale — size or range
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. scale — for weighing

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