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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. pass — a permit
  3. shower — to wash
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — to breed
  6. pop — music
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. wound — an injury
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. cell — a phone
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mate — a friend
  21. pop — soda
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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