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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — to breed
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. hand — in cards
  7. net — in sport
  8. swing — in golf
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. net — after costs
  11. game — wild animals
  12. hand — help
  13. game — a match
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — the earth
  16. swing — music
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. net — for catching
  22. lie — to recline
  23. swing — to play on
  24. ground — crushed

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