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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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a friend
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. branch — a division
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. prune — to trim
  10. land — a country
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. row — to paddle
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. row — a line
  17. land — ground
  18. spell — letters
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — hasty
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. prune — to trim
  24. land — to come down

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