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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — a partner
  4. roll — a cake
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. sharp — clever
  9. tear — from crying
  10. clip — to cut
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. mate — to breed
  14. roll — a list
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bore — to tire
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. clip — a video
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. wind — moving air
  22. ball — a dance
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ball — a great time

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