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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. mate — a friend
  4. fine — all right
  5. net — in sport
  6. scale — size or range
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. mate — a partner
  11. cold — not warm
  12. net — after costs
  13. tube — a container
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. net — for catching
  16. rash — a series
  17. mate — to breed
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fine — high quality
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. cold — an illness

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