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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. ground — crushed
  3. club — for dancing
  4. mate — to breed
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. charge — a price
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bat — the animal
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. ground — the earth
  12. dip — to sink
  13. charge — electricity
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. mate — a friend
  16. kid — child
  17. shower — rain
  18. club — for golf
  19. charge — in control
  20. ground — a position
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. club — a group
  24. kid — to tease

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