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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. snap — to click
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. game — a match
  8. cap — of ice
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. race — the arms race
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cap — a hat
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. mate — a partner
  16. season — of the year
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cap — a lid
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. game — wild animals
  24. season — in sport

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