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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. spell — letters
  6. capital — a city
  7. fork — in a road
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. mate — to breed
  12. prune — to trim
  13. lie — to recline
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. mine — for digging
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. mate — a friend
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. spell — a short time
  22. prune — to trim
  23. spell — magic
  24. mine — belonging to me

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