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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. bore — to drill
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bore — to tire
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. tube — the underground
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. lean — thin
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. land — a country
  15. lean — to bend
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. land — ground
  19. shower — rain
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. shower — to wash
  23. tube — a container
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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