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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bore — to tire
  3. game — a match
  4. spring — of water
  5. game — wild animals
  6. land — to come down
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. track — a song
  9. spring — the season
  10. land — a country
  11. pass — a permit
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bore — to drill
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. track — a path
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. land — ground
  21. spring — a coil
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. track — to keep track
  24. pass — to spend time

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