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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. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. mate — a friend
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. drill — a practice
  6. race — a contest
  7. drill — army training
  8. mate — to breed
  9. date — the fruit
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bear — the animal
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. race — the arms race
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — an illness
  17. race — humankind
  18. drill — the tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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