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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. swing — in golf
  3. land — a country
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. swing — music
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. tear — from crying
  10. land — to come down
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. swing — to play on
  13. land — ground
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. rash — a series
  16. tear — to rip
  17. spell — magic
  18. band — a music group
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rash — hasty
  21. date — the fruit
  22. band — a ring
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. date — on the calendar

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