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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. mate — to breed
  3. court — for sport
  4. band — a ring
  5. bore — to drill
  6. mate — a partner
  7. object — a thing
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. bore — to tire
  10. last — finally
  11. band — a music group
  12. mate — a friend
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. court — of law
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. last — to go on
  21. object — to protest
  22. court — of a king
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. object — an aim

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