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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bore — to tire
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bore — to drill
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. staff — a stick
  9. clip — a video
  10. staff — employees
  11. mate — a friend
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. game — a match
  14. clip — to cut
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mate — to breed
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. staff — employees
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. game — wild animals

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