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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — a partner
  3. drill — the tool
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. field — farmland
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — a committee
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. field — a subject
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. court — of a king
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — a container
  16. mate — to breed
  17. drill — army training
  18. court — for sport
  19. hand — in cards
  20. court — of law
  21. board — to get on
  22. drill — a practice
  23. tube — the underground
  24. field — for sport

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