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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. sharp — clever
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mate — to breed
  11. swing — to play on
  12. ball — a great time
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mark — a trace
  16. kid — child
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — in golf
  21. mark — a grade
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. sharp — with an edge

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