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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: rock · cap · sharp · date · snap · march · swing · cold

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cold — an illness
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. march — the month
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — in golf
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. sharp — clever
  11. swing — music
  12. rock — a stone
  13. cap — of ice
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. march — music
  16. rock — music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — the month
  19. date — the fruit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. snap — to click
  24. sharp — exactly

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