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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bore — to drill
  7. row — a line
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ball — a great time
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bore — to tire
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. ball — a dance
  24. row — to paddle

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