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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. lie — to recline
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. swing — to play on
  6. bore — to drill
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — music
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. object — a thing
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. rush — hurry
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. object — to protest
  22. clip — a video
  23. object — an aim
  24. clip — to cut

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