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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. pop — music
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — a partner
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. march — the month
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. pop — soda
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bore — to tire
  18. march — music
  19. drill — army training
  20. pop — to visit
  21. drill — a practice
  22. land — a country
  23. mate — to breed
  24. march — the month

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