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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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Word bank
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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: rash · pitch · tube · march · hide · fan · date · face

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. march — the month
  3. tube — the underground
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. date — the fruit
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — completely
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. face — to confront
  16. march — the month
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. face — part of the head
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. march — music
  21. tube — a container
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. rash — a series
  24. face — to point toward

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