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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. cold — not warm
  3. court — of law
  4. face — to confront
  5. bore — to tire
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — a weight
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. face — to point toward
  13. court — of a king
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. land — ground
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — an illness
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. court — for sport
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bore — to drill
  24. face — part of the head

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