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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. season — in sport
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. season — of the year
  14. bore — to drill
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chest — a box
  18. bore — to tire
  19. chest — of your body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. chest — of your body
  24. land — ground

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