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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  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. arm — a part of something
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. spring — the season
  4. rush — hurry
  5. vault — a safe
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. chip — to eat
  9. spring — of water
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. cold — not warm
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. wake — a trail
  16. chip — for betting
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. rush — to hurry
  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