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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bore — to tire
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. tube — a container
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. spell — letters
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spell — magic
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bore — to drill
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. spell — a short time
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pound — to hit hard

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