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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: pitch · mate · snap · present · rule · nail · land · file

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. land — a country
  3. pitch — completely
  4. rule — government
  5. snap — to click
  6. present — there
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — the time now
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — ground
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. rule — a law
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. file — a line of people

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