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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — crushed
  5. sharp — clever
  6. season — of the year
  7. bore — to drill
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ground — a position
  12. capital — money
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wake — a trail
  16. season — in sport
  17. bore — to tire
  18. hand — help
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  24. capital — a city

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