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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. chair — a leader
  7. tear — from crying
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. mate — a friend
  11. kid — child
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mine — for digging
  15. face — to point toward
  16. fork — in a road
  17. hand — help
  18. face — part of the head
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mate — to breed
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. face — to confront
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mine — belonging to me

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