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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. mate — a friend
  3. season — of the year
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a partner
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. file — a document
  9. hand — in cards
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. bore — to drill
  12. file — a line of people
  13. board — a committee
  14. season — in sport
  15. file — a tool
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. board — to get on
  20. field — farmland
  21. hand — help
  22. field — a subject
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. field — for 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