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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bore — to drill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bore — to tire
  10. cap — a lid
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. kid — child
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cap — of ice
  22. clip — a video
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. deal — to handle

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