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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. mate — a partner
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. club — for dancing
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — ground
  7. saw — the tool
  8. land — to come down
  9. tear — from crying
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. mate — to breed
  12. tear — to rip
  13. saw — the tool
  14. club — a group
  15. court — of law
  16. mate — a friend
  17. club — for golf
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. court — for sport
  20. mark — a trace
  21. court — of a king
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. land — a country
  24. mark — to pay attention

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