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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. wound — an injury
  5. land — a country
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pop — soda
  9. can — a tin
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. land — ground
  12. can — to be able to
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — to come down
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pop — to visit
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. can — a tin
  19. pop — music
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. date — the fruit
  24. wound — an injury

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