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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. land — a country
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. land — to come down
  9. degree — temperature
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bore — to drill
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. land — ground
  18. dip — to sink
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. degree — an amount

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