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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 120 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. pop — soda
  3. bound — tied together
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. land — a country
  6. bound — certain
  7. wake — a trail
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. field — a subject
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mate — a friend
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. field — for sport
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. field — farmland
  18. bound — obliged
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — a break

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