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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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468
Word bank
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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. bore — to tire
  4. press — a publisher
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. bore — to drill
  7. kick — in football
  8. mate — to breed
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — to push
  13. wound — an injury
  14. toast — bread
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wound — an injury
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cold — not warm

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