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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pop — to visit
  3. march — the month
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. deal — to handle
  6. pop — soda
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. fall — the season
  10. cell — a phone
  11. march — music
  12. fall — to drop
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. march — the month
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. cell — in biology
  24. pop — music

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