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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. pit — a hole
  3. tear — to rip
  4. last — final
  5. chest — a box
  6. object — to protest
  7. clip — a video
  8. last — finally
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. object — an aim
  12. object — a thing
  13. last — to go on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. pit — in a race
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bore — to drill

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