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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. chip — to eat
  3. bore — to drill
  4. row — a line
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. drill — army training
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. drill — a practice
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pound — a weight
  19. chip — for betting
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bass — the fish
  22. drill — the tool
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. sharp — exactly

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