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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. bore — to drill
  3. clip — for paper
  4. saw — the tool
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — to cut
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. tear — from crying
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. tear — from crying
  12. scale — in music
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. clip — a video
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. tear — to rip
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. bore — to tire
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. scale — size or range
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. saw — the tool
  24. jam — a tight spot

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