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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tube — the underground
  6. net — for catching
  7. tube — a container
  8. net — after costs
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cold — an illness
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bore — to tire
  24. net — in sport

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