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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. march — the month
  4. mate — a partner
  5. kid — to tease
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. season — of the year
  8. capital — a city
  9. bound — certain
  10. mate — a friend
  11. wake — a trail
  12. band — a music group
  13. bound — tied together
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. season — in sport
  17. band — a ring
  18. bound — obliged
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wake — before a funeral

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