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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wound — an injury
  11. net — in sport
  12. stock — shares
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stock — goods
  15. net — for catching
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — completely
  19. kid — child
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bore — to drill
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. shower — rain
  24. net — after costs

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