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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. date — the fruit
  7. shower — to wash
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. last — to go on
  11. squash — the sport
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. squash — to crush
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. last — finally
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. chair — a leader
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — rain

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