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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. fine — high quality
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. cap — a hat
  11. fine — all right
  12. bore — to drill
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cap — a lid
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. leaves — of a tree

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