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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. kid — to tease
  3. ball — a dance
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bore — to tire
  6. spring — a coil
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. spring — the season
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. ball — a great time
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. drill — the tool
  21. kid — child
  22. prune — to trim
  23. drill — army training
  24. prune — to trim

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