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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 partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. present — a gift
  4. stand — to bear
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. key — for a lock
  9. cold — not warm
  10. key — the most important part
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. tear — to rip
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cold — an illness
  20. tear — from crying
  21. present — the time now
  22. key — in music
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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