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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bore — to drill
  4. land — ground
  5. rash — a series
  6. field — a subject
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. land — to come down
  9. kick — in football
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. bore — to tire
  12. spring — the season
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. field — farmland
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. lean — thin
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. land — a country
  20. lean — to bend
  21. bat — the animal
  22. field — for sport
  23. rash — hasty
  24. lean — to rest against

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