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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. ground — a position
  5. bear — the animal
  6. file — a line of people
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. file — a tool
  9. row — a line
  10. kick — in football
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. game — a match
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bear — the animal
  19. file — a document
  20. bore — to tire
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bore — to drill
  24. cold — an illness

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