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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. vault — a safe
  3. march — the month
  4. mug — a cup
  5. clip — to cut
  6. march — the month
  7. bass — low music
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. mug — a face
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mine — for digging
  15. clip — for paper
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mate — to breed
  23. clip — a video
  24. march — music

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