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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. mine — for digging
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. sharp — clever
  10. row — to paddle
  11. chip — to eat
  12. face — part of the head
  13. chip — for betting
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. bore — to drill
  16. face — to confront
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. row — a line
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. saw — the tool
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. face — to point toward

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