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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bore — to tire
  4. court — of law
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cell — a phone
  7. court — for sport
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hand — in cards
  10. season — in sport
  11. mate — to breed
  12. bore — to drill
  13. mate — a partner
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. court — of a king
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. hand — help
  24. bore — gave birth

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