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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. prune — to trim
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bore — to drill
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bore — to tire
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. prune — to trim
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bat — the animal
  21. saw — the tool
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. wound — an injury

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