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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. can — a tin
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. march — music
  6. wind — moving air
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — ground
  12. wind — moving air
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. can — a tin
  15. hand — help
  16. land — a country
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. can — to be able to
  19. hand — in cards
  20. net — after costs
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a partner
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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