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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bulb — for light
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pit — a hole
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — a phone
  13. charge — a price
  14. pit — in a race
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bore — to drill
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. cold — an illness
  22. clip — to cut
  23. charge — electricity
  24. charge — in control

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