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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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a friend
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pound — a weight
  5. chest — of your body
  6. last — to go on
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. chest — a box
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. field — farmland
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. chest — of your body
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. last — final
  17. field — a subject
  18. mate — a partner
  19. field — for sport
  20. last — finally
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the sport
  24. pound — for dogs

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