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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — to point toward
  6. spell — a short time
  7. scale — size or range
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. face — to confront
  10. scale — in music
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. spell — magic
  13. cold — not warm
  14. track — a song
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. date — the fruit
  17. cold — an illness
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. snap — to click
  21. track — a path
  22. face — part of the head
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. track — to keep track

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