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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. land — to come down
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wake — a trail
  5. court — for sport
  6. race — humankind
  7. mate — a partner
  8. spell — letters
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. land — a country
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. spell — a short time
  14. prune — to trim
  15. court — of law
  16. land — ground
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. court — of a king
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — a contest
  21. mate — to breed
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. spell — magic

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