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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: date · kid · march · key · press · tear · season · plane

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — to tease
  5. date — the fruit
  6. tear — from crying
  7. season — of the year
  8. press — newspapers
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. tear — to rip
  11. plane — a tool
  12. key — the most important part
  13. season — in sport
  14. kid — child
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. press — to push
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. march — the month
  22. key — in music
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. press — a publisher

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