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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — to breed
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. land — to come down
  5. chest — of your body
  6. club — a group
  7. can — a tin
  8. chest — of your body
  9. court — of law
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. club — for dancing
  12. land — ground
  13. pass — a permit
  14. mate — a friend
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. club — for golf
  18. can — to be able to
  19. land — a country
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. chest — a box
  23. can — a tin
  24. pass — to spend time

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