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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. date — the fruit
  3. march — music
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fork — in a road
  6. present — there
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. present — the time now
  9. pop — music
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pop — soda
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. present — a gift
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. degree — temperature
  16. march — the month
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. march — the month
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cell — a phone
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. degree — an amount

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