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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. face — to point toward
  3. mug — a face
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. kid — to tease
  8. face — to confront
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mate — a friend
  11. board — a committee
  12. board — to get on
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mug — a cup
  16. kid — child
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mug — to rob

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