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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — to breed
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cap — a lid
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. wound — an injury
  10. face — to confront
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. mate — a partner
  15. face — part of the head
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cap — a hat
  19. degree — temperature
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. degree — an amount
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cap — of ice
  24. prune — to trim

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