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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. snap — to click
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pop — soda
  8. shower — rain
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. pop — to visit
  12. file — a tool
  13. pop — music
  14. lean — thin
  15. bore — to tire
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. kid — child
  18. shower — to wash
  19. file — a document
  20. lean — to bend
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. file — a line of people
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. fan — a supporter

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