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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. craft — a skill
  4. fall — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. craft — boats
  7. fall — to drop
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. fall — to drop
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bore — to drill
  14. spring — of water
  15. toast — bread
  16. spring — the season
  17. wound — an injury
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. chair — a leader
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. shower — rain

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