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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bore — to tire
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. ball — a great time
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ball — a dance
  9. rest — a break
  10. bore — to drill
  11. shower — rain
  12. bulb — for light
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hand — in cards
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. rest — what's left
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rest — what's left
  22. clip — a video
  23. hand — help
  24. sharp — with an edge

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