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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. key — the most important part
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mate — a partner
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mate — a friend
  8. row — a line
  9. key — in music
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. stand — to bear
  17. row — to paddle
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. wound — an injury
  22. key — for a lock
  23. clip — a video
  24. saw — the tool

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