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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — a partner
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. clip — to cut
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. clip — a video
  9. fine — high quality
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. fine — all right
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. row — to paddle
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. clip — for paper
  22. mate — to breed
  23. land — ground
  24. mine — for digging

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