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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. mate — a partner
  3. pass — a permit
  4. stem — to come from
  5. mate — to breed
  6. net — after costs
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. net — in sport
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. net — for catching
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bear — the animal
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — in golf
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. file — a tool
  19. swing — music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. bear — the animal
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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