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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 116 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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. fall — the season
  6. ground — a position
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mate — to breed
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ball — a great time
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. fall — to drop
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. mate — a friend
  17. cold — not warm
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ball — a dance
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. scale — in music

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