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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. spring — the season
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bore — to drill
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. season — in sport
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. vault — a safe
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wind — moving air
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. spring — a coil
  20. season — of the year
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. spring — of water
  23. prune — to trim
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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