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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. pound — a weight
  4. present — a gift
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bore — to tire
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. net — for catching
  10. bore — to drill
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. land — to come down
  13. cold — an illness
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. present — there
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. net — after costs
  18. cold — not warm
  19. present — the time now
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. net — in sport
  24. pound — for dogs

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