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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. object — to protest
  5. fork — in a road
  6. field — farmland
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. field — a subject
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. object — a thing
  16. fine — all right
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — for sport
  20. date — the fruit
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. object — an aim

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