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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. race — the arms race
  4. tube — the underground
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. swing — music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. swing — in golf
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. race — humankind
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. clip — for paper
  14. saw — the tool
  15. mate — to breed
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. tube — a container
  18. mate — a partner
  19. race — a contest
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. clip — a video
  24. mine — for digging

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