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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. present — a gift
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. last — final
  9. content — happy
  10. cue — for pool
  11. last — to go on
  12. content — the amount
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cue — a signal
  17. mate — to breed
  18. present — there
  19. can — a tin
  20. present — the time now
  21. can — a tin
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. last — finally
  24. can — to be able to

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