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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — for digging
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — clever
  7. root — of a plant
  8. band — a ring
  9. current — happening now
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. root — the cause
  17. current — of water
  18. fall — to drop
  19. root — of a word
  20. fall — the season
  21. band — a music group
  22. fall — to drop
  23. current — electric
  24. cold — not warm

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