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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cell — a phone
  4. net — in sport
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. race — a contest
  7. craft — boats
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — a friend
  11. craft — a skill
  12. rest — what's left
  13. net — after costs
  14. saw — the tool
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. race — the arms race
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. cell — in biology
  21. rest — a break
  22. net — for catching
  23. race — humankind
  24. rest — what's left

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