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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. wind — moving air
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spell — letters
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. mate — a friend
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. spell — magic
  12. plane — a tool
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — to handle
  17. rash — a series
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spell — a short time
  20. mate — to breed
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. rash — hasty
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. straw — dry grass

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