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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. bound — obliged
  3. pop — soda
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bore — to tire
  7. staff — employees
  8. kid — child
  9. bound — certain
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bound — tied together
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. chest — a box
  19. pop — music
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. staff — a stick
  24. mouse — for a computer

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