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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 116 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 you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. hand — help
  3. spring — the season
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cue — a hint
  6. bore — to drill
  7. spring — a coil
  8. last — finally
  9. cue — for pool
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. spring — of water
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bat — the animal
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — final
  19. bore — to tire
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cue — a signal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. field — farmland

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