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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. spring — of water
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. game — a match
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bore — to tire
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. bore — to drill
  11. clip — a video
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. spring — a coil
  14. toast — bread
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. clip — for paper
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. spring — the season
  19. kick — in football
  20. game — wild animals
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. bore — gave birth

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