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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mate — a partner
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. wake — a trail
  6. squash — to crush
  7. fork — in a road
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. clip — to cut
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. march — the month
  12. rule — a law
  13. mate — a friend
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. squash — the sport
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. mine — for digging
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mate — to breed
  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