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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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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mate — to breed
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. charge — a price
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. charge — electricity
  9. vault — a safe
  10. charge — in control
  11. mate — a partner
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — an illness
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cold — not warm
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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