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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.

Words on the sheet
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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. mate — a friend
  6. saw — the tool
  7. clip — for paper
  8. saw — the tool
  9. field — farmland
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. clip — to cut
  12. field — a subject
  13. mate — a partner
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. snap — to click
  17. field — for sport
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. squash — the sport
  20. clip — a video
  21. chair — a leader
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chair — to sit on

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