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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wind — moving air
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. chair — a leader
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. band — a ring
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hand — help
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. row — a line
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. date — the fruit
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. band — a music group
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. row — to paddle

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