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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. pop — soda
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. land — a country
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wake — a trail
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chest — a box
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. land — ground
  15. pop — to visit
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. pop — music
  19. key — the most important part
  20. bore — to drill
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — in music
  23. chest — of your body
  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