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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. tear — to rip
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mine — for digging
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. scale — in music
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. spring — a coil
  10. march — music
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. march — the month
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. march — the month
  19. mate — a partner
  20. tear — from crying
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. scale — size or range
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — belonging to me

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