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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wound — an injury
  3. club — for dancing
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. date — the fruit
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for golf
  8. spring — of water
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. kid — to tease
  11. row — a line
  12. spring — the season
  13. row — to paddle
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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