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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mate — a partner
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. tube — a container
  7. plane — a tool
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wind — moving air
  11. tube — the underground
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. pop — soda
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. mate — to breed
  19. mate — a friend
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. present — there
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. present — the time now

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