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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. season — of the year
  4. ground — a position
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. bore — to tire
  7. court — of law
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. race — the arms race
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bore — to drill
  14. shower — rain
  15. race — humankind
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. ground — crushed
  19. season — in sport
  20. court — of a king
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. court — for sport
  23. race — a contest
  24. ground — the earth

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