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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. bore — to drill
  3. pound — a weight
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. key — in music
  9. face — to confront
  10. bore — to tire
  11. fall — to drop
  12. content — the amount
  13. key — for a lock
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fall — the season
  17. shower — rain
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. content — happy
  20. key — the most important part
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. face — part of the head
  24. mine — for digging

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