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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. mate — to breed
  3. rest — a break
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cell — a phone
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cue — for pool
  11. club — for dancing
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wax — to grow
  15. march — the month
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. rest — what's left
  20. club — for golf
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. club — a group
  24. cell — in biology

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