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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. file — a tool
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. capital — money
  6. shower — rain
  7. season — in sport
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. hand — help
  11. season — of the year
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bore — to drill
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. file — a document
  18. shower — to wash
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. file — a line of people
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bore — to tire
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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