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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. rush — hurry
  3. last — to go on
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mate — a friend
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. clip — for paper
  8. date — the fruit
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. last — final
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a partner
  14. pitch — completely
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. saw — the tool
  19. last — finally
  20. saw — the tool
  21. chest — a box
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. date — on the calendar

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