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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. kick — in football
  3. rush — hurry
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cap — a hat
  11. pit — in a race
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bore — to tire
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. branch — a division
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cap — of ice
  23. file — a line of people
  24. branch — of a bank

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