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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. mate — to breed
  4. file — a document
  5. last — final
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. season — in sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. last — to go on
  11. season — of the year
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. file — a line of people
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mate — a partner
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. mate — a friend
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. file — a tool
  21. mine — for digging
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — a weight

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