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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. stem — to come from
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. mate — a friend
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. rush — hurry
  8. court — of a king
  9. shower — rain
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. court — of law
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. mate — to breed
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chest — of your body
  17. court — for sport
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chest — a box
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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