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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mate — a friend
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bat — the animal
  7. band — a music group
  8. cold — not warm
  9. band — a ring
  10. bear — the animal
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bear — the animal
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bat — in an idiom

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