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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 116 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. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. suit — clothes
  3. suit — in cards
  4. fine — all right
  5. suit — to fit
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. rash — hasty
  8. mate — to breed
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mine — for digging
  12. band — a ring
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mate — a friend
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. fine — high quality
  17. net — for catching
  18. cold — not warm
  19. net — in sport
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. net — after costs
  22. rash — a series
  23. band — a music group
  24. cold — the Cold War

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