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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. capital — money
  8. band — a music group
  9. current — of water
  10. spell — letters
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. mate — a friend
  14. capital — a city
  15. current — happening now
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. rush — hurry
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. spell — magic
  20. current — electric
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. spell — a short time
  23. mate — to breed
  24. band — a ring

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