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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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. scale — in music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. toast — bread
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. scale — size or range
  14. pop — music
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kid — child
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — to visit
  21. court — of law
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. bore — to tire
  24. season — of the year

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