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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. rock — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. present — the time now
  13. present — a gift
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. march — the month
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bore — to drill
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. present — there
  20. rock — a stone
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. kid — child

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