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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. mug — a face
  3. cold — not warm
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. last — final
  7. spring — of water
  8. last — to go on
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. pitch — completely
  11. chip — to eat
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mug — a cup
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — for betting
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. spring — the season
  19. mug — to rob
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — a coil
  23. last — finally
  24. date — on the calendar

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