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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. present — a gift
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. season — of the year
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. bat — the animal
  10. last — to go on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. present — there
  13. tube — a container
  14. present — the time now
  15. date — the fruit
  16. tube — the underground
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. plane — a tool

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