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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. kid — to tease
  3. land — ground
  4. mate — to breed
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. land — a country
  8. bore — to drill
  9. mate — a friend
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cold — not warm
  12. present — there
  13. mate — a partner
  14. land — to come down
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. kid — child
  17. bore — to tire
  18. cold — an illness
  19. present — the time now
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bulb — for light
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bulb — for light

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