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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. mouse — the animal
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — a partner
  4. fork — in a road
  5. mate — to breed
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. last — finally
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. last — final
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. last — to go on
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. bat — the animal
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. cell — in biology
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — a phone
  23. clip — a video
  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