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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. current — of water
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cell — a phone
  6. tear — from crying
  7. current — electric
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bore — to tire
  10. clip — a video
  11. court — for sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. court — of law
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. tear — to rip
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — for paper
  18. court — of a king
  19. land — ground
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. current — happening now
  22. clip — to cut
  23. land — a country
  24. cell — in biology

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