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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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 — to breed
  2. toast — bread
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. field — a subject
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. mate — a partner
  7. cold — not warm
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — a permit
  11. craft — a skill
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. craft — boats
  14. field — farmland
  15. branch — a division
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mate — a friend
  23. field — for sport
  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