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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. last — finally
  4. bore — to tire
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chest — of your body
  8. key — for a lock
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. last — to go on
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bore — to drill
  16. key — in music
  17. pitch — completely
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. chest — a box
  20. key — the most important part
  21. last — final
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — an explosive

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