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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. key — the most important part
  3. mate — to breed
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. fine — high quality
  6. field — a subject
  7. chest — of your body
  8. key — in music
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. key — for a lock
  12. field — farmland
  13. fine — all right
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. dip — to sink
  17. mate — a friend
  18. spring — the season
  19. chest — of your body
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. field — for sport
  22. spring — of water
  23. chest — a box
  24. spring — a coil

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