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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. ball — a dance
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. scale — in music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mate — to breed
  8. kid — to tease
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. firm — steady
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. clip — a video
  14. ball — a great time
  15. kid — child
  16. mate — a partner
  17. scale — size or range
  18. clip — for paper
  19. firm — a company
  20. firm — decided
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. ball — a round shape

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