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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: court · march · cold · cue · bulb · last · can · date

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — an illness
  4. march — the month
  5. cue — for pool
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. bulb — for light
  9. court — of law
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cue — a signal
  12. last — final
  13. last — to go on
  14. march — the month
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. court — for sport
  20. bulb — for light
  21. march — music
  22. cue — a hint
  23. court — of a king
  24. last — finally

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