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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bore — to tire
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. land — ground
  5. content — happy
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. season — in sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. last — finally
  12. land — to come down
  13. mate — a friend
  14. last — to go on
  15. wax — to grow
  16. land — a country
  17. last — final
  18. fine — high quality
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. season — of the year
  21. bore — to drill
  22. fine — all right
  23. mate — to breed
  24. bore — gave birth

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