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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — the fruit
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rash — a series
  5. mug — a cup
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mug — a face
  8. degree — from a university
  9. tube — the underground
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mug — to rob
  12. tear — from crying
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — a container
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bat — the animal
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — child
  24. rash — hasty

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