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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. lean — thin
  7. bore — to tire
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. bore — to drill
  11. chest — a box
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. pit — a hole
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — temperature
  18. clip — to cut
  19. lean — to bend
  20. pit — in a race
  21. chest — of your body
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. net — in sport
  24. ruler — a monarch

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