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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 get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. present — a gift
  3. key — for a lock
  4. mate — a friend
  5. last — finally
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. mate — to breed
  10. key — in music
  11. march — music
  12. hand — in cards
  13. key — the most important part
  14. season — in sport
  15. hand — help
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. present — the time now
  20. march — the month
  21. present — there
  22. march — the month
  23. season — of the year
  24. hand — part of the body

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