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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. season — of the year
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. bound — obliged
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bound — tied together
  11. drill — a practice
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. tube — a container
  15. drill — the tool
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. bound — certain
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — a video
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. drill — army training
  24. season — in sport

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