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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. club — for dancing
  3. season — in sport
  4. bat — the animal
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rash — hasty
  8. club — for golf
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. mate — to breed
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. rash — a series
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. row — a line
  19. club — a group
  20. row — to paddle
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. prune — to trim
  23. season — of the year
  24. ruler — for measuring

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