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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spell — magic
  5. ball — a great time
  6. race — the arms race
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. season — in sport
  9. file — a tool
  10. prune — to trim
  11. date — the fruit
  12. shower — rain
  13. file — a document
  14. race — a contest
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. spell — letters
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. race — humankind
  22. season — of the year
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spell — a short time

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