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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 116 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — a trail
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. shower — rain
  9. march — the month
  10. mine — for digging
  11. pit — a hole
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pit — in a race
  16. bore — to tire
  17. season — of the year
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. bat — the animal
  24. season — 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