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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. mate — a friend
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. rule — a law
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mate — a partner
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rush — hurry
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rule — government
  14. bat — the animal
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spring — the season
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. spring — of water
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mate — to breed
  21. bore — to drill
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. spring — a coil

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