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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 124 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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. march — the month
  3. deal — to handle
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. roll — a cake
  6. chest — of your body
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. march — the month
  9. degree — from a university
  10. roll — a list
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. march — music
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. chest — a box
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bore — to tire
  19. wind — moving air
  20. land — to come down
  21. chest — of your body
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. wind — moving air

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