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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 116 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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. ground — a position
  4. content — happy
  5. sharp — clever
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. root — of a word
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. net — in sport
  10. capital — money
  11. kid — child
  12. bore — to tire
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. root — the cause
  17. capital — a city
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bore — to drill
  20. content — the amount
  21. root — of a plant
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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