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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rest — what's left
  5. ground — a position
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. mate — a friend
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bass — the fish
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bass — low music
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. rest — a break
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. hand — help
  22. mate — to breed
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cell — a phone

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