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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — the season
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. bass — low music
  8. land — to come down
  9. mate — to breed
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. spring — a coil
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. land — ground
  15. spring — of water
  16. bass — the fish
  17. mate — a partner
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. land — a country
  21. dip — to sink
  22. fall — the season
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. cell — in biology

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