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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: date · bat · cap · shower · lash · mate · pop · game

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. pop — to visit
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. game — a match
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cap — of ice
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cap — a lid
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pop — music
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — a friend
  19. pop — soda
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. shower — rain
  22. mate — to breed
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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