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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: last · tube · mate · bear · spell · march · game · ground

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. last — to go on
  3. ground — crushed
  4. last — finally
  5. tube — a container
  6. spell — letters
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. game — a match
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. mate — a friend
  11. spell — magic
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. tube — the underground
  14. march — music
  15. last — final
  16. ground — a position
  17. bear — the animal
  18. march — the month
  19. game — wild animals
  20. ground — the earth
  21. mate — to breed
  22. march — the month
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bear — the animal

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