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

Word bank: bat · wound · pound · chest · mate · fork · present · pass

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. present — a gift
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chest — a box
  11. present — there
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. fork — in a road
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pass — a permit
  23. chest — of your body
  24. present — the time now

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