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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. spell — letters
  3. staff — employees
  4. current — electric
  5. current — happening now
  6. clip — for paper
  7. march — the month
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. current — of water
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. staff — employees
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. spell — a short time
  15. clip — a video
  16. spell — magic
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. march — the month
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. mine — for digging
  21. march — music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. date — the fruit
  24. staff — a stick

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