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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. last — final
  4. content — happy
  5. last — finally
  6. pass — a permit
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mug — a face
  10. mug — to rob
  11. last — to go on
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mate — to breed
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. mate — a partner
  17. mug — a cup
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mate — a friend
  20. content — the amount
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fine — all right
  23. date — the fruit
  24. date — on the calendar

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