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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. chair — a leader
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. clip — for paper
  5. kid — child
  6. capital — a city
  7. wind — moving air
  8. root — of a word
  9. capital — money
  10. bore — to tire
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. root — the cause
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. clip — a video
  20. perch — the fish
  21. root — of a plant
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wind — moving air
  24. clip — to cut

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