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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. dip — to sink
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spell — letters
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. date — the fruit
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — not warm
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cold — an illness
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. perch — the fish
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bat — for baseball

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