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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. game — wild animals
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. spring — of water
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. spring — the season
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — music
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. swing — in golf
  14. spring — a coil
  15. game — a match
  16. court — of law
  17. file — a document
  18. court — of a king
  19. date — the fruit
  20. file — a tool
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. court — for sport
  24. wake — a trail

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