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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. kid — child
  4. pitch — completely
  5. fork — in a road
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. sharp — clever
  9. suit — clothes
  10. kid — to tease
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. mate — a partner
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mate — a friend
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. suit — in cards
  20. row — a line
  21. bat — the animal
  22. suit — to fit
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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