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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. kid — to tease
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. bore — to tire
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. kid — child
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bore — to drill
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wind — to turn a key

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