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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: wound · mate · march · date · kick · swing · present · cap

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. mate — a partner
  3. wound — an injury
  4. swing — music
  5. cap — a lid
  6. march — the month
  7. swing — in golf
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. cap — a hat
  10. march — the month
  11. date — the fruit
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. present — the time now
  15. wound — an injury
  16. present — a gift
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. march — music
  19. present — there
  20. swing — to play on
  21. mate — a friend
  22. kick — in football
  23. mate — to breed
  24. date — on the calendar

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