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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. land — to come down
  3. track — a song
  4. track — a path
  5. kid — child
  6. bore — to drill
  7. land — a country
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — finally
  10. ball — a great time
  11. present — a gift
  12. track — to keep track
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. last — final
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. present — the time now
  18. ball — a dance
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. present — there
  23. land — ground
  24. degree — an amount

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