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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: club · rush · cold · mouse · clip · bat · present · date

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cold — not warm
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. clip — a video
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. present — the time now
  13. club — a group
  14. clip — to cut
  15. club — for dancing
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. club — for golf
  19. present — a gift
  20. date — the fruit
  21. rush — hurry
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mouse — for a computer

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