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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. cell — in biology
  3. spell — a short time
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bore — to drill
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. spell — letters
  11. court — for sport
  12. hand — help
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. court — of a king
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. net — in sport
  19. cell — a phone
  20. net — for catching
  21. court — of law
  22. spell — magic
  23. net — after costs
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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