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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. mate — a friend
  6. shower — to wash
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. fall — the season
  9. mate — to breed
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. content — the amount
  15. kid — child
  16. shower — rain
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. content — happy
  19. field — a subject
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pitcher — a jug

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