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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. present — a gift
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cold — not warm
  8. present — there
  9. kid — to tease
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. key — in music
  13. kid — child
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. key — for a lock
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. cold — an illness
  19. key — the most important part
  20. branch — a division
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. plane — a tool
  23. present — the time now
  24. branch — of a bank

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