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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. last — to go on
  3. squash — to crush
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — the fruit
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. file — a tool
  9. last — finally
  10. file — a line of people
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. dip — to sink
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cell — a phone
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. cold — not warm
  17. file — a document
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. last — final
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. cold — an illness

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