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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rush — hurry
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cell — a phone
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. squash — the sport
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. mug — a cup
  12. tube — the underground
  13. mate — to breed
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. mug — a face
  17. tube — a container
  18. cell — in biology
  19. snap — to click
  20. squash — to crush
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. mug — to rob
  23. mate — a friend
  24. cell — in a prison

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