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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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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: mate · bat · season · net · can · mine · straw · pound

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. can — a tin
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a partner
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. net — in sport
  8. can — to be able to
  9. net — after costs
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. season — of the year
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. mate — a friend
  18. bat — the animal
  19. season — in sport
  20. pound — a weight
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. net — for catching
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. can — a tin

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