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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bore — to drill
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — to rip
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bore — to tire
  8. pit — in a race
  9. bear — the animal
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bear — the animal
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kid — child
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. pit — a hole
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. shower — rain
  24. bore — gave birth

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