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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. net — for catching
  3. spring — of water
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. spring — a coil
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. bore — to drill
  11. drill — the tool
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bore — to tire
  14. net — in sport
  15. hand — help
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. net — after costs
  19. spring — the season
  20. drill — a practice
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. drill — army training
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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