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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. content — the amount
  3. hand — help
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. swing — in golf
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mate — to breed
  8. rash — a series
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — happy
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. drill — the tool
  14. swing — to play on
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. drill — a practice
  18. hand — in cards
  19. swing — music
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — army training
  23. mate — a friend
  24. rash — hasty

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