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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mate — to breed
  6. land — ground
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. land — a country
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. fork — in a road
  13. club — a group
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. club — for dancing
  20. club — for golf
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. land — to come down
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. mate — a friend

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