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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bore — to tire
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. season — in sport
  7. court — for sport
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. roll — a cake
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bore — to drill
  13. season — of the year
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. court — of a king
  16. deal — to handle
  17. roll — a list
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. court — of law
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. deal — a big deal

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