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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. fine — all right
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bore — to drill
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bore — to tire
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. capital — a city
  15. cap — a lid
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cap — of ice
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. rock — a stone
  22. mine — for digging
  23. capital — money
  24. mine — an explosive

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