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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. net — after costs
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. mate — a partner
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. net — in sport
  7. cap — a lid
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cap — of ice
  12. bear — the animal
  13. land — a country
  14. mate — to breed
  15. land — to come down
  16. bear — the animal
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. net — for catching
  20. land — ground
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cap — a hat
  24. temple — a place of worship

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