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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. swing — to play on
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. mate — a friend
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. cue — a hint
  8. swing — music
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mark — a trace
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. swing — in golf
  15. kid — child
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. fork — in a road
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cue — for pool
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cue — a signal
  22. clip — a video
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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