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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. mine — for digging
  4. game — a match
  5. present — there
  6. court — for sport
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. court — of a king
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. hand — help
  14. present — a gift
  15. lean — thin
  16. game — wild animals
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. present — the time now
  19. lean — to bend
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bore — to drill
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. court — of law
  24. bore — to tire

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