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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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  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. mark — a trace
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cold — an illness
  7. sharp — clever
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. cold — not warm
  10. capital — a city
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. mark — a grade
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pass — a permit
  16. capital — money
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. saw — the tool
  22. prune — to trim
  23. date — on the calendar
  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