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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. kid — child
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bear — the animal
  5. pop — music
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. drill — army training
  11. bore — to drill
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bore — to tire
  14. pop — soda
  15. cell — in biology
  16. fork — in a road
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bear — the animal
  24. pop — to visit

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