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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: chest · mate · cue · cap · season · pit · cell · date

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  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. cue — for pool
  3. chest — of your body
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. mate — to breed
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — a hole
  8. mate — a friend
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a hat
  11. pit — in a race
  12. season — of the year
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cue — a hint
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mate — a partner
  17. cue — a signal
  18. chest — a box
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. season — in sport
  23. date — the fruit
  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