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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. club — a group
  4. bat — the animal
  5. game — a match
  6. pit — in a race
  7. club — for golf
  8. game — wild animals
  9. spell — a short time
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bore — to tire
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. spell — magic
  16. club — for dancing
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bore — to drill
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spell — letters
  24. bat — in an idiom

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