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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: cell · spring · clip · shower · pit · date · face · prune

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. date — the fruit
  3. pit — in a race
  4. spring — the season
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. face — to confront
  7. spring — of water
  8. pit — a hole
  9. clip — for paper
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. clip — to cut
  14. face — to point toward
  15. prune — to trim
  16. clip — a video
  17. spring — a coil
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cell — a phone
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. shower — rain
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. prune — to trim
  24. face — part of the head

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