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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. spring — the season
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mate — a friend
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. last — final
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tube — the underground
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. spring — a coil
  15. last — to go on
  16. spring — of water
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. mate — to breed
  19. fall — to drop
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fall — the season
  22. tube — a container
  23. last — finally
  24. ground — a position

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