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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. drill — the tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. root — of a word
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. chest — of your body
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. root — of a plant
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. root — the cause
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. mate — to breed
  17. drill — a practice
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. chest — of your body
  24. drill — army training

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