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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. mate — a partner
  5. file — a tool
  6. bore — to drill
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. field — a subject
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bore — to tire
  17. file — a document
  18. sharp — clever
  19. mate — to breed
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. file — a line of people

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