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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 120 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. mark — a grade
  3. saw — the tool
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. ball — a dance
  6. land — ground
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ball — a great time
  11. land — a country
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mine — for digging
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. land — to come down
  21. mate — to breed
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mate — a friend
  24. mate — a partner

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