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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 116 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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. last — finally
  3. spring — the season
  4. bore — to drill
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. last — final
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. spring — of water
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. land — a country
  14. file — a tool
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. spring — a coil
  17. land — to come down
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. last — to go on
  20. land — ground
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fork — in a road
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. file — a document

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