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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bore — to drill
  4. season — of the year
  5. season — in sport
  6. shower — rain
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. face — part of the head
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. face — to confront
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bore — to tire
  18. chest — of your body
  19. capital — a city
  20. chest — a box
  21. capital — money
  22. chip — for betting
  23. chip — to eat
  24. face — to point toward

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