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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. chip — to eat
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. chip — for betting
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. cold — not warm
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wake — a trail
  14. plane — a tool
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. bore — to tire
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. bore — to drill
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. arm — a part of something

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