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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. file — a line of people
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. file — a document
  5. game — a match
  6. pop — to visit
  7. band — a ring
  8. pop — music
  9. track — a path
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. capital — a city
  12. track — to keep track
  13. band — a music group
  14. mate — a friend
  15. pop — soda
  16. capital — money
  17. file — a tool
  18. track — a song
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to click
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. game — wild animals
  24. mate — to breed

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