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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 · fork · cell · march · face · kid · saw · mark

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. march — the month
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. face — to confront
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cell — a phone
  10. date — the fruit
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — in a road
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. mark — a grade
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. face — to point toward
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. march — the month
  20. kid — child
  21. cell — in biology
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. march — music
  24. mark — a trace

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