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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bore — to drill
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. wound — an injury
  7. squash — to crush
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wound — an injury
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wind — moving air
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. plane — a tool
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. straw — dry grass

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