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

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bore — to drill
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. tear — to rip
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. dip — to sink
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. game — wild animals
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. land — ground
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. bore — to tire
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. content — the amount
  20. game — a match
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. tear — from crying

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