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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 · key · cell · date · mark · drill · cold · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. 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. sharp — exactly
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. drill — army training
  5. key — the most important part
  6. mark — a trace
  7. date — the fruit
  8. cold — not warm
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cold — an illness
  11. key — in music
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mark — a grade
  16. key — for a lock
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. drill — the tool
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. sharp — clever
  21. toast — bread
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. 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