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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. mate — a friend
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. scale — size or range
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — to breed
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. clip — to cut
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. cold — not warm
  21. toast — bread
  22. lie — to recline
  23. fork — in a road
  24. scale — in music

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