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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. field — a subject
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. stock — goods
  7. date — the fruit
  8. shower — rain
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. field — for sport
  11. file — a document
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rule — government
  15. field — farmland
  16. stock — shares
  17. toast — bread
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. file — a tool
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. rule — a law

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