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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. spell — letters
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wax — to grow
  6. pit — a hole
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. date — the fruit
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. spell — a short time
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. mate — to breed
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. spell — magic
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. bat — in an idiom

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