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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. mate — to breed
  7. rest — what's left
  8. can — a tin
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — a country
  11. season — in sport
  12. rest — a break
  13. can — to be able to
  14. mate — a friend
  15. season — of the year
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — ground
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. can — a tin
  20. tube — the underground
  21. land — to come down
  22. tube — a container
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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