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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. file — a tool
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. mate — a partner
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. band — a ring
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. file — a document
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cold — an illness
  18. drill — army training
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. mate — a friend
  21. lie — to recline
  22. cold — not warm
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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