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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · cap · nail · mate · net · cold

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cap — a lid
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. mate — a partner
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cap — of ice
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. net — for catching

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