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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. shower — to wash
  3. land — ground
  4. roll — a cake
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. bore — to drill
  7. chest — a box
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mug — a cup
  10. mug — a face
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. land — to come down
  14. bore — to tire
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mug — to rob
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. shower — rain
  20. row — a line
  21. land — a country
  22. chest — of your body
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. roll — a list

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