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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. last — final
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. last — finally
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. last — to go on
  8. clip — for paper
  9. game — a match
  10. clip — to cut
  11. game — wild animals
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. clip — a video
  15. fall — to drop
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. mate — a partner
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. mate — a friend
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — part of the head

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