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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. march — the month
  3. kid — child
  4. capital — money
  5. march — the month
  6. capital — a city
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — certain
  10. chest — of your body
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bound — tied together
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. chest — a box
  22. spring — of water
  23. march — music
  24. chest — of your body

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