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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mine — for digging
  3. tear — to rip
  4. snap — to click
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. swing — music
  8. capital — a city
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. swing — in golf
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. capital — money
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. swing — to play on
  24. mate — to breed

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