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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. field — farmland
  3. land — to come down
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. march — the month
  6. lie — to recline
  7. march — the month
  8. land — a country
  9. field — a subject
  10. capital — money
  11. mug — a cup
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. mug — a face
  15. field — for sport
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. mug — to rob
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. land — ground
  22. march — music
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a friend

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