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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. content — happy
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bore — to drill
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. saw — the tool
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. saw — the tool
  15. mark — a trace
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mark — a grade
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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