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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. spring — of water
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bore — to drill
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. file — a tool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bore — to tire
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. file — a line of people
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. craft — boats
  18. clip — a video
  19. spring — the season
  20. lie — to recline
  21. wind — moving air
  22. file — a document
  23. spring — a coil
  24. craft — a skill

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