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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. season — of the year
  3. field — farmland
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. vault — a safe
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. season — in sport
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. clip — for paper
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. bark — to shout
  23. lie — to recline
  24. mouse — for a computer

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