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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ball — a great time
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cold — not warm
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — a friend

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