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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  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. spring — of water
  2. court — for sport
  3. bore — to tire
  4. drill — the tool
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bore — to drill
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cell — a phone
  9. court — of law
  10. spring — the season
  11. cell — in biology
  12. drill — army training
  13. court — of a king
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. spring — a coil
  18. snap — to click
  19. sharp — clever
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fall — to drop
  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