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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. staff — a stick
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bore — to drill
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. kid — child
  8. deal — to handle
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. kid — to tease
  11. shower — rain
  12. degree — temperature
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. degree — an amount
  15. staff — employees
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. staff — employees
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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