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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. plane — a tool
  3. mate — a friend
  4. perch — the fish
  5. hand — help
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. roll — a cake
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. hand — in cards
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. mate — a partner
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. roll — a list
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — shares

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