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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. pop — soda
  4. cell — a phone
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. kid — child
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bore — to drill
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bore — to tire
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pop — music
  19. date — the fruit
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. pop — to visit
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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