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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bore — to drill
  3. last — finally
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bore — to tire
  6. hand — help
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. swing — to play on
  9. kick — in football
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. fork — in a road
  14. stem — to come from
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. swing — music
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hand — in cards
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. swing — in golf
  24. last — to go on

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