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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. saw — the tool
  3. capital — money
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mate — to breed
  8. squash — the sport
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. capital — a city
  11. ground — a position
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mate — a friend
  14. kid — child
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. saw — the tool
  18. race — humankind
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. squash — to crush
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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