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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: date · cap · cold · saw · mate · wave · tear · snap

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. snap — to click
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — the fruit
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mate — to breed
  20. tear — from crying
  21. saw — the tool
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cap — a hat
  24. tear — from crying

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