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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.

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: march · cold · net · mate · hand · pit · tube · wound

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mate — to breed
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tube — the underground
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. tube — a container
  13. wound — an injury
  14. march — music
  15. net — after costs
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hand — in cards
  18. mate — a friend
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. net — for catching
  21. mate — a partner
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. march — the month

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