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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. pitch — completely
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bass — the fish
  7. kid — child
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. staff — employees
  17. fork — in a road
  18. ball — a great time
  19. mate — to breed
  20. staff — a stick
  21. bass — low music
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. fork — to eat with

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