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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. drill — army training
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. club — for dancing
  5. drill — the tool
  6. wound — an injury
  7. fall — the season
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wake — a trail
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. drill — a practice
  14. bore — to drill
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chip — to eat
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. fall — to drop
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — a group
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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