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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bore — to drill
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. row — a line
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. bore — to tire
  8. row — to paddle
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — to wash
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. board — to get on
  14. file — a line of people
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. file — a document
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. file — a tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. board — a committee

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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