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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. track — a song
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. chest — a box
  5. row — a line
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. mate — to breed
  10. face — to point toward
  11. race — a contest
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mate — a friend
  14. snap — to click
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bore — to drill
  18. race — the arms race
  19. face — part of the head
  20. track — a path
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — to paddle
  23. face — to confront
  24. race — humankind

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