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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — a match
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — the underground
  11. prune — to trim
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — humankind
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mark — a grade
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. mark — a trace
  20. bore — to tire
  21. prune — to trim
  22. race — a contest
  23. bore — to drill
  24. game — wild animals

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