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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. current — electric
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bore — to tire
  13. current — of water
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bore — to drill
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. drill — a practice
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. chest — of your body
  23. capital — money
  24. current — happening now

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