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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bound — certain
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bound — obliged
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bore — to tire
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. capital — money
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bound — tied together
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. capital — a city
  22. wax — to grow
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. bore — gave birth

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