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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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. leaves — to go away
  4. press — a publisher
  5. content — happy
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. content — the amount
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. date — the fruit
  10. fine — all right
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. press — newspapers
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. fine — high quality
  17. mate — a friend
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a line
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mine — for digging
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. press — to push
  24. leaves — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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