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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bore — to drill
  4. wound — an injury
  5. net — after costs
  6. tear — to rip
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rash — hasty
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bore — to tire
  11. net — for catching
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. prune — to trim
  24. net — in sport

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