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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. scale — in music
  5. band — a ring
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. toast — bread
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — to breed
  15. cold — not warm
  16. scale — size or range
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. band — a music group
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cold — an illness
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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