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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bass — low music
  8. fall — to drop
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. ground — crushed
  11. fall — to drop
  12. shower — rain
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. ground — a position
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bore — to drill
  17. ground — the earth
  18. fall — the season
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bass — the fish
  22. scale — in music
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. prune — to trim

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