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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. race — a contest
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bore — to drill
  6. capital — money
  7. land — ground
  8. capital — a city
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. land — to come down
  12. bore — to tire
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. race — humankind
  20. land — a country
  21. pass — a permit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a tree

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