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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cell — in biology
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. mate — a partner
  13. stock — goods
  14. file — a tool
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. mate — to breed
  17. squash — the sport
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. stock — shares
  20. file — a line of people
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. file — a document
  23. squash — to crush
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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