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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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. bore — gave birth
  4. track — to keep track
  5. bore — to drill
  6. squash — to crush
  7. spring — a coil
  8. net — after costs
  9. squash — the sport
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. capital — a city
  14. net — for catching
  15. spring — the season
  16. track — a song
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. track — a path
  19. mate — to breed
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. spring — of water
  22. bore — to tire
  23. capital — money
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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