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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. date — the fruit
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. file — a document
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. game — a match
  11. cold — not warm
  12. file — a tool
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stem — to come from
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. file — a line of people

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