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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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wake — a trail
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. ball — a dance
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mate — a partner
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. pitch — completely
  16. bat — the animal
  17. ball — a great time
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. mate — a friend

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