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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mate — to breed
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. hand — in cards
  10. capital — money
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bound — tied together
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bound — certain
  15. fall — the season
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bound — obliged
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. rash — a series
  21. hand — help
  22. capital — a city
  23. mate — a friend
  24. trunk — of a tree

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