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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. hand — help
  3. mate — a friend
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — a leader
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. ball — a dance
  11. mate — to breed
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. saw — the tool
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. hand — in cards
  16. perch — the fish
  17. ball — a great time
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. saw — the tool
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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