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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bore — to tire
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. cap — of ice
  7. land — to come down
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. land — ground
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. land — a country
  12. spell — magic
  13. bore — to drill
  14. rush — hurry
  15. spell — a short time
  16. cap — a hat
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. spell — letters
  23. cap — a lid
  24. wind — moving air

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