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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. bore — to tire
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. band — a ring
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bore — to drill
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. tear — from crying
  16. scale — in music
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. band — a music group
  19. tear — to rip
  20. pit — in a race
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wax — to grow
  23. clip — to cut
  24. scale — size or range

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