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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bore — to drill
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bark — to shout
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. field — a subject
  10. mine — for digging
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. bore — to tire
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. field — for sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. field — farmland
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bulb — for light

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