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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — final
  3. wound — an injury
  4. vault — a safe
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — after costs
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. bore — to drill
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. last — to go on
  12. net — for catching
  13. bore — to tire
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. hand — in cards
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. season — in sport
  19. last — finally
  20. season — of the year
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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