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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. kid — child
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. band — a music group
  6. date — the fruit
  7. net — in sport
  8. last — finally
  9. present — a gift
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. present — the time now
  12. net — for catching
  13. kid — to tease
  14. last — to go on
  15. band — a ring
  16. present — there
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cell — a phone
  20. net — after costs
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. cell — in biology

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