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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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 friend
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. lean — thin
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. bat — the animal
  12. lean — to bend
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. wake — a trail
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. march — the month
  18. ground — the earth
  19. scale — in music
  20. mate — to breed
  21. ground — a position
  22. scale — size or range
  23. kick — in football
  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