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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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Word bank
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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. snap — to click
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — for digging
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mate — a partner
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. scale — in music
  17. mate — to breed
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. vault — a safe
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. scale — size or range
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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