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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lean — to bend
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. shower — rain
  11. lean — thin
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. rule — government
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. mate — a partner
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. rule — a law
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bat — the animal
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bat — for baseball

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