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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mate — a partner
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. land — ground
  6. key — the most important part
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mate — to breed
  10. key — in music
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pit — a hole
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mate — a friend
  17. tube — a container
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. key — for a lock
  20. chair — a leader
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. pit — in a race
  23. land — a country
  24. tube — in a tire

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