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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. track — to keep track
  4. bore — to tire
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. land — to come down
  8. cell — a phone
  9. file — a tool
  10. scale — in music
  11. bore — to drill
  12. present — the time now
  13. file — a document
  14. track — a path
  15. cell — in biology
  16. scale — size or range
  17. track — a song
  18. land — a country
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. file — a line of people
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. land — ground
  23. present — a gift
  24. present — there

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