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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: face · date · clip · mate · bat · game · key · pop

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mate — a friend
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mate — a partner
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. face — to confront
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mate — to breed
  13. clip — a video
  14. key — in music
  15. pop — music
  16. face — part of the head
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pop — to visit
  21. key — the most important part
  22. face — to point toward
  23. key — for a lock
  24. bat — in an idiom

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