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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bore — to tire
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. mate — to breed
  9. bound — tied together
  10. plane — a tool
  11. chip — to eat
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. bound — certain
  14. bore — to drill
  15. chip — for betting
  16. capital — money
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. capital — a city
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bat — for baseball

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