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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 120 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. file — a tool
  3. mate — a partner
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bore — to tire
  7. capital — a city
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. mate — to breed
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. file — a document
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — a safe
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. mate — a friend
  21. bore — to drill
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. hand — in cards
  24. wind — moving air

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