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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 116 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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bore — to drill
  5. mate — a friend
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. field — a subject
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. spring — the season
  13. chair — a leader
  14. rest — what's left
  15. spring — of water
  16. field — farmland
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. bore — to tire
  19. pitch — completely
  20. spring — a coil
  21. field — for sport
  22. rest — a break
  23. perch — the fish
  24. bore — gave birth

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