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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — crushed
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. content — happy
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. current — electric
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ground — a position
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. current — of water
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. current — happening now
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. content — the amount
  19. bore — to drill
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a leader
  24. bat — in an idiom

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