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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. chest — a box
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. court — of law
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bore — to tire
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — of your body
  15. row — a line
  16. field — for sport
  17. bore — to drill
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. court — of a king
  20. chest — of your body
  21. field — farmland
  22. court — for sport
  23. kick — in football
  24. bore — gave birth

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