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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cap — of ice
  4. prune — to trim
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. face — to confront
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cap — a hat
  11. content — happy
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. content — the amount
  14. mate — a partner
  15. wound — an injury
  16. face — to point toward
  17. prune — to trim
  18. scale — size or range
  19. face — part of the head
  20. scale — in music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cap — a lid
  23. mate — a friend
  24. ball — a dance

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