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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — a partner
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. pound — a weight
  7. chair — a leader
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. dip — to sink
  11. file — a tool
  12. land — a country
  13. file — a line of people
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rush — hurry
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. land — to come down
  22. mate — to breed
  23. file — a document
  24. land — ground

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