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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 116 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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. bore — to tire
  4. kid — to tease
  5. stem — to come from
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. row — to paddle
  8. kid — child
  9. spring — the season
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bore — to drill
  15. chip — to eat
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. spring — a coil
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. chip — for betting
  21. clip — to cut
  22. row — a line
  23. spring — of water
  24. hide — animal skin

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