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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. present — there
  3. drill — army training
  4. present — a gift
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. tear — to rip
  7. shower — rain
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. date — the fruit
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mug — a face
  13. spring — of water
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. spring — the season
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mug — to rob
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — the tool
  24. present — the time now

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