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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cell — in biology
  4. tear — to rip
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. hand — help
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ball — a great time
  20. spell — a short time
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bat — in an idiom

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