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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. kid — to tease
  3. present — there
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mate — a friend
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. present — a gift
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mate — to breed
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — child
  18. wound — an injury
  19. last — to go on
  20. present — the time now
  21. last — final
  22. last — finally
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. mate — a partner

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