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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 116 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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. clip — a video
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. pound — a weight
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. hand — help
  12. can — a tin
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. clip — to cut
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. net — after costs
  18. tube — a container
  19. can — to be able to
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. net — for catching
  22. can — a tin
  23. clip — for paper
  24. net — in sport

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