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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. net — in sport
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bear — the animal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bear — the animal
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. net — after costs
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. key — in music
  14. kid — to tease
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. key — the most important part
  17. key — for a lock
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. date — the fruit
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. net — for catching
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wind — moving air

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