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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 116 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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. file — a tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. land — to come down
  6. bore — to tire
  7. root — of a plant
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. file — a line of people
  10. tear — to rip
  11. land — ground
  12. tear — from crying
  13. court — of a king
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. court — of law
  16. land — a country
  17. swing — to play on
  18. root — of a word
  19. file — a document
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. swing — in golf
  23. root — the cause
  24. swing — music

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