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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. cell — a phone
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. mate — a friend
  5. toast — bread
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. bear — the animal
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. kick — in football
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. degree — from a university
  14. mate — to breed
  15. degree — temperature
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cell — in biology
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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