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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — a partner
  3. lean — to bend
  4. key — the most important part
  5. clip — a video
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lean — thin
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. key — in music
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cell — in biology
  17. band — a ring
  18. mine — for digging
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. key — for a lock
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cell — a phone
  23. band — a music group
  24. cell — in a prison

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