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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 120 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: march · scale · kid · cue · wound · mate · rush · net

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. mate — to breed
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. mate — a partner
  5. cue — a hint
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. march — music
  11. cue — for pool
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rush — hurry
  14. scale — in music
  15. cue — a signal
  16. scale — size or range
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kid — child
  22. net — after costs
  23. kid — to tease
  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