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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. date — the fruit
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. rest — a break
  6. cap — of ice
  7. last — finally
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. net — for catching
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. net — after costs
  12. rest — what's left
  13. last — final
  14. cap — a lid
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. band — a ring
  17. last — to go on
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. net — in sport
  20. band — a music group
  21. rest — what's left
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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