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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 120 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fall — to drop
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mate — a friend
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. fall — to drop
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. ball — a great time
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. fall — the season
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mate — to breed
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mate — a partner
  24. cold — the Cold War

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