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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 120 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. foot — a measure
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. ground — crushed
  7. tube — the underground
  8. ground — the earth
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. ground — a position
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. shower — rain
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. last — finally
  19. last — to go on
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mate — to breed
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. last — final
  24. wound — an injury

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