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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 · date · degree · fall · hand · wake · mate · pop

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — the fruit
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. pop — music
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pop — soda
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mate — a friend
  11. mate — a partner
  12. hand — help
  13. pop — to visit
  14. degree — an amount
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. degree — from a university
  18. mate — to breed
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fall — to drop
  21. clip — for paper
  22. degree — temperature
  23. clip — a video
  24. wake — a trail

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