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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. wind — moving air
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. capital — money
  8. chest — of your body
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. chest — a box
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. game — a match
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. capital — a city
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  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