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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. net — in sport
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bore — to drill
  11. file — a tool
  12. net — after costs
  13. row — a line
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. foot — a measure
  16. net — for catching
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bore — to tire
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pass — a permit
  22. file — a document
  23. row — to paddle
  24. file — a line of people

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