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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 116 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. scale — size or range
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. stem — to come from
  5. last — to go on
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. last — final
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. mate — to breed
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. content — happy
  13. present — a gift
  14. last — finally
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wax — to grow
  19. mate — a friend
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. present — there
  22. content — the amount
  23. present — the time now
  24. content — videos and posts

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