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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mate — to breed
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. track — a song
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. track — a path
  8. roll — a list
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. date — the fruit
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. track — to keep track
  13. drill — army training
  14. pop — to visit
  15. roll — a cake
  16. game — a match
  17. pop — soda
  18. mate — a partner
  19. drill — a practice
  20. mate — a friend
  21. pop — music
  22. drill — the tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

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