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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. season — in sport
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pitch — completely
  8. track — to keep track
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mate — a friend
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. mate — to breed
  14. track — a path
  15. fork — in a road
  16. march — music
  17. track — a song
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. season — of the year
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. march — the month
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. hand — help
  24. season — to add flavour

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