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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. staff — employees
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — to grow
  5. staff — employees
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. season — in sport
  9. cold — not warm
  10. season — of the year
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. file — a tool
  13. bore — to tire
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. kick — in football
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. cold — an illness
  18. staff — a stick
  19. wind — moving air
  20. file — a line of people
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. file — a document
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. bore — to drill

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