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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a partner
  3. shower — to wash
  4. object — an aim
  5. game — wild animals
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. bound — certain
  8. bound — tied together
  9. cap — a hat
  10. object — to protest
  11. mate — a friend
  12. cap — of ice
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cap — a lid
  16. game — a match
  17. shower — rain
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. capital — a city
  20. object — a thing
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. capital — money
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bound — obliged

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