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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 120 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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. land — to come down
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cold — an illness
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. game — a match
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. snap — to click
  16. game — wild animals
  17. land — ground
  18. cold — not warm
  19. land — a country
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bore — to drill
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. game — a kind of play

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