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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 116 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cell — a phone
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pass — a permit
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. track — a path
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. track — a song
  17. track — to keep track
  18. mate — a friend
  19. season — of the year
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. season — in sport
  23. mate — to breed
  24. pass — to spend time

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