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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — all right
  4. can — to be able to
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. cold — an illness
  8. can — a tin
  9. mug — to rob
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. can — a tin
  13. scale — size or range
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — to shout
  18. mug — a cup
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. mate — a friend
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mug — a face
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. scale — in music

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