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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: mate · sharp · field · arm · wind · cell · lie · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. mate — a friend
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. mate — a partner
  10. wind — moving air
  11. date — the fruit
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cell — a phone
  14. sharp — clever
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wind — moving air
  20. field — farmland
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cell — in biology

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