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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 124 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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — a friend
  4. scale — in music
  5. bat — the animal
  6. fine — all right
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. band — a music group
  9. scale — size or range
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. prune — to trim
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. fine — high quality
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. mate — to breed
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. mate — a partner
  24. bat — in an idiom

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