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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. mate — a friend
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. field — for sport
  5. date — the fruit
  6. kick — in football
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pit — a hole
  10. race — the arms race
  11. mate — to breed
  12. pit — in a race
  13. mate — a partner
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. race — a contest
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. field — farmland
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. field — a subject
  24. race — humankind

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