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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  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. rash — on the skin
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. spring — the season
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. capital — money
  9. spring — a coil
  10. capital — a city
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rash — a series
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. snap — to click
  17. spring — of water
  18. last — finally
  19. rash — hasty
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. date — the fruit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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