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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. mug — a face
  3. date — the fruit
  4. mug — a cup
  5. roll — a list
  6. spring — the season
  7. chest — of your body
  8. track — to keep track
  9. chest — a box
  10. cap — a lid
  11. mug — to rob
  12. roll — a cake
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chest — of your body
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. track — a song
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. spring — of water
  22. track — a path
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cap — of ice

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