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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. ball — a great time
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mate — a friend
  5. net — after costs
  6. bank — for money
  7. march — music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bank — for money
  10. mate — to breed
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — an illness
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mine — for digging
  16. net — in sport
  17. bank — of a river
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. ball — a dance
  20. hand — help
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. march — the month
  23. net — for catching
  24. cold — the Cold War

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