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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. net — after costs
  5. scale — in music
  6. bore — to drill
  7. spring — a coil
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. scale — size or range
  12. pound — a weight
  13. file — a line of people
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bore — to tire
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — a cake
  18. kid — child
  19. net — for catching
  20. spring — of water
  21. net — in sport
  22. file — a document
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. file — a tool

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