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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  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 — to breed
  2. cell — a phone
  3. deal — to handle
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bass — the fish
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — not warm
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bass — low music
  15. lie — to recline
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. race — humankind
  21. mate — a partner
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. mate — a friend
  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