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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cap — a hat
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cap — a lid
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. date — the fruit
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. march — the month
  14. cap — of ice
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. perch — the fish
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. march — the month
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. march — music
  24. sharp — clever

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