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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — to drill
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. clip — for paper
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. rash — a series
  11. chest — of your body
  12. clip — to cut
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. shower — to wash
  16. saw — the tool
  17. pass — a permit
  18. rash — hasty
  19. shower — rain
  20. clip — a video
  21. pit — a hole
  22. chest — a box
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. pit — in a race

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