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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. rule — a law
  3. roll — a list
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. chest — a box
  9. bore — to tire
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bore — to drill
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. roll — a cake
  18. chest — of your body
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. kid — child
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. rule — government

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