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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. spell — a short time
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bore — to tire
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. bore — to drill
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. spell — letters
  13. pit — a hole
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. pit — in a race
  16. drill — a practice
  17. date — the fruit
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. kid — to tease
  21. drill — army training
  22. kid — child
  23. spell — magic
  24. drill — the tool

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