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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. mate — a partner
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. chest — of your body
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. mate — to breed
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. cell — a phone
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cell — in biology
  13. spell — letters
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. spell — magic
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chest — a box
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. chest — of your body
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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