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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. deal — to handle
  3. file — a line of people
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. mate — a friend
  6. game — a match
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. mate — a partner
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. game — wild animals
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. snap — to click
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. spring — a coil
  18. rash — hasty
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. calf — of the leg

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