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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 120 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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468
Word bank
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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. bore — to tire
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mate — to breed
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. kick — in football
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — not warm
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mate — a friend
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bore — to drill
  24. lie — to recline

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