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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. mate — to breed
  5. march — music
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. mate — a friend
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fork — in a road
  10. pit — in a race
  11. game — wild animals
  12. march — the month
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. row — a line
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. row — to paddle
  20. game — a match
  21. pit — a hole
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. march — the month

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