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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — to breed
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. tube — a container
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bark — to shout
  23. wound — an injury
  24. date — the fruit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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