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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tube — a container
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. snap — to click
  7. bore — to drill
  8. cell — a phone
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. date — the fruit
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. row — to paddle
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. land — ground
  24. bore — to tire

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