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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bore — to tire
  3. fall — to drop
  4. field — farmland
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. clip — for paper
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bore — to drill
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. fall — to drop
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. clip — a video
  19. field — a subject
  20. fall — the season
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rush — hurry
  24. field — for sport

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