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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. swing — to play on
  3. last — to go on
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. roll — a cake
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. mate — to breed
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. last — finally
  12. game — a match
  13. swing — in golf
  14. pass — a permit
  15. kick — in football
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. roll — a list
  18. game — wild animals
  19. last — final
  20. swing — music
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. mate — a friend
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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