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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. court — of law
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. court — for sport
  8. spring — the season
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. tube — a container
  12. tear — to rip
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. spring — of water
  17. court — of a king
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. stand — to bear
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bore — to drill
  22. spring — a coil
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stand — for spectators

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