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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: bay · mark · tube · cold · mate · mine · date · rule

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cold — an illness
  8. tube — a container
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — a law
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. date — the fruit
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mate — to breed
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mate — a friend
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. mark — a grade

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