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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. last — finally
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. toast — bread
  8. capital — money
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. last — to go on
  12. rash — hasty
  13. hand — help
  14. date — the fruit
  15. capital — a city
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. rash — a series
  18. last — final
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — a big letter

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