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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. kid — to tease
  6. row — to paddle
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. shower — rain
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. row — a line
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rash — a series
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. rash — hasty
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wound — an injury
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. board — a committee
  22. kid — child
  23. shower — to wash
  24. board — to get on

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