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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 124 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. mate — a partner
  4. ground — crushed
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mug — a cup
  8. mug — a face
  9. mug — to rob
  10. sharp — clever
  11. mate — a friend
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. swing — in golf
  15. ball — a great time
  16. clip — to cut
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — to play on
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ground — a position
  24. clip — a video

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