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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mate — a partner
  5. last — final
  6. last — to go on
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. club — for golf
  9. file — a tool
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. club — for dancing
  12. prune — to trim
  13. file — a document
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. root — the cause
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. last — finally
  18. club — a group
  19. root — of a plant
  20. mine — for digging
  21. prune — to trim
  22. root — of a word
  23. file — a line of people
  24. mate — a friend

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