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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. shower — rain
  4. bore — to drill
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. spell — letters
  7. bore — to tire
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. spell — a short time
  10. pitch — completely
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spell — magic
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cold — an illness
  20. shower — to wash
  21. chip — for betting
  22. fork — in a road
  23. chip — to eat
  24. fork — to eat with

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