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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. bore — to tire
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bore — to drill
  8. shower — to wash
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. hand — help
  11. shower — rain
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. stem — to come from
  16. fork — in a road
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — happy
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. tube — the underground
  23. content — the amount
  24. hand — in cards

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