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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: clip · mate · bulb · date · ground · sharp · drill · face

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. ground — crushed
  3. face — to confront
  4. mate — a partner
  5. bulb — for light
  6. drill — a practice
  7. face — part of the head
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mate — a friend
  11. drill — the tool
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. bulb — for light
  15. clip — to cut
  16. drill — army training
  17. face — to point toward
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. ground — a position
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. date — the fruit
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — with an edge

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