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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. band — a ring
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. fall — the season
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. race — a contest
  11. saw — the tool
  12. race — humankind
  13. saw — the tool
  14. land — a country
  15. band — a music group
  16. land — to come down
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. fall — to drop
  19. race — the arms race
  20. land — ground
  21. pitch — completely
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. fall — to drop
  24. date — the fruit

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