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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. last — to go on
  3. land — to come down
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. last — finally
  6. spell — magic
  7. last — final
  8. spell — a short time
  9. content — happy
  10. pound — a weight
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. content — the amount
  15. land — ground
  16. stock — shares
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. spell — letters
  19. date — the fruit
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. land — a country

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