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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — of ice
  6. snap — to click
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cell — a phone
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. cap — a lid
  17. roll — a cake
  18. date — the fruit
  19. roll — a list
  20. degree — temperature
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cell — in biology

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