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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — to rob
  5. spell — a short time
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. capital — a city
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mate — to breed
  13. deal — to handle
  14. file — a line of people
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. spell — letters
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — money
  20. mug — a face
  21. spell — magic
  22. file — a tool
  23. land — a country
  24. saw — the tool

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