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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pound — a weight
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. bore — to tire
  8. kid — child
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. bore — to drill
  11. season — in sport
  12. hand — in cards
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. present — a gift
  15. kid — to tease
  16. present — there
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. season — of the year
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. scale — size or range
  21. present — the time now
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. scale — in music

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