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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. pit — in a race
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. stock — goods
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chest — a box
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tear — to rip
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bore — to tire
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mate — a friend
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pit — a hole
  24. stock — shares

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