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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. court — for sport
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. court — of law
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bat — the animal
  7. saw — the tool
  8. pit — in a race
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — the cause
  11. mine — for digging
  12. land — a country
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. land — to come down
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bore — to drill
  21. land — ground
  22. root — of a plant
  23. court — of a king
  24. pit — a hole

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