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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. rush — hurry
  3. squash — to crush
  4. capital — a city
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. fork — in a road
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mate — a partner
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. mate — to breed
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. squash — the sport
  18. clip — a video
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. clip — to cut
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. chest — a box
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. capital — money

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