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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rush — hurry
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cell — in biology
  7. court — of law
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. craft — a skill
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. mine — for digging
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. court — for sport
  18. degree — an amount
  19. mate — a friend
  20. craft — boats
  21. court — of a king
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. cell — a phone

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