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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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. fan — a supporter
  4. rash — hasty
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. march — music
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rash — a series
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — to breed
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. wound — an injury
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. march — the month

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