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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cell — in biology
  6. mate — a partner
  7. key — for a lock
  8. present — the time now
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cell — a phone
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. present — there
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. ground — a position
  17. key — the most important part
  18. tear — to rip
  19. ground — the earth
  20. present — a gift
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. mate — to breed
  24. key — in music

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