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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mine — for digging
  4. rest — what's left
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. prune — to trim
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. ground — crushed
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — humankind
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. rest — a break
  17. field — for sport
  18. rest — what's left
  19. kick — in football
  20. field — a subject
  21. race — the arms race
  22. prune — to trim
  23. field — farmland
  24. kick — a thrill

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