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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. tube — a container
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mate — to breed
  9. tube — the underground
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — final
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. mate — a friend
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. bark — to shout
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. wound — an injury
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. last — finally
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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