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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. fall — to drop
  3. spring — a coil
  4. land — ground
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. spring — of water
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cell — in biology
  10. net — for catching
  11. chest — a box
  12. net — in sport
  13. mate — to breed
  14. land — a country
  15. net — after costs
  16. cell — a phone
  17. object — a thing
  18. chest — of your body
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — to protest
  21. fall — the season
  22. spring — the season
  23. mate — a friend
  24. land — to come down

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