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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. stand — to bear
  3. mate — a partner
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. spell — magic
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — letters
  11. mate — to breed
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. mate — a friend
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. mine — for digging
  17. spell — a short time
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fine — all right
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. nail — for a hammer

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