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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. cold — an illness
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — for golf
  7. degree — temperature
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. net — for catching
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mate — to breed
  14. degree — from a university
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. mate — a friend
  18. toast — bread
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. club — a group

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