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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. face — part of the head
  3. pound — a weight
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. land — ground
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. chair — a leader
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. land — a country
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. face — to confront
  15. land — to come down
  16. spring — of water
  17. bore — to drill
  18. spring — the season
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. spring — a coil
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kick — in football
  24. face — to point toward

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