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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: toast · bay · tear · kid · firm · date

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. firm — decided
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. toast — bread
  8. date — the fruit
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. firm — steady
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. kid — to tease
  14. firm — a company
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. toast — a drink to someone

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