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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. bore — to tire
  3. present — a gift
  4. net — after costs
  5. present — the time now
  6. field — a subject
  7. present — there
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. game — wild animals
  10. net — for catching
  11. field — for sport
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. field — farmland
  14. land — to come down
  15. shower — to wash
  16. sharp — clever
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. land — ground
  20. net — in sport
  21. land — a country
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. sharp — exactly

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