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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. mate — a partner
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. roll — a list
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. land — to come down
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. swing — music
  11. mate — to breed
  12. land — ground
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. shower — rain
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. swing — in golf
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. roll — a cake
  22. pass — a permit
  23. mate — a friend
  24. land — a country

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