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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. club — a group
  5. bound — certain
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bound — obliged
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. press — to push
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. clip — for paper
  18. shower — rain
  19. bore — to tire
  20. club — for golf
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — a publisher
  23. bound — tied together
  24. mine — for digging

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