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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  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 — a partner
  2. press — a publisher
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. date — the fruit
  5. clip — to cut
  6. ground — a position
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mate — a friend
  9. ground — the earth
  10. clip — a video
  11. ground — crushed
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. mate — to breed
  14. press — to push
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. sharp — clever
  20. press — newspapers
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. clip — for paper
  23. sharp — exactly
  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