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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  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. shower — to wash
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. net — after costs
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — to bend
  8. rash — hasty
  9. net — for catching
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. net — in sport
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. lean — thin
  19. file — a tool
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. racket — for tennis
  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