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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mine — for digging
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. land — a country
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. tube — the underground
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. tube — a container
  11. pop — soda
  12. sharp — clever
  13. pop — music
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. mate — to breed
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pop — to visit
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mate — a friend
  23. degree — temperature
  24. sharp — exactly

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