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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mate — a friend
  6. land — ground
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. spell — a short time
  10. board — a committee
  11. root — of a word
  12. root — the cause
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. spell — letters
  15. cold — an illness
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. mate — a partner
  18. spell — magic
  19. root — of a plant
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. land — to come down
  22. board — to get on
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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