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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. bound — tied together
  3. land — ground
  4. bound — obliged
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. spell — a short time
  8. net — after costs
  9. kid — child
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bound — certain
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. spell — magic
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mate — to breed
  17. scale — in music
  18. mate — a partner
  19. net — in sport
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. net — for catching
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spell — letters
  24. straw — dry grass

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