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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pop — music
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. march — the month
  6. spring — of water
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. spring — the season
  9. face — to confront
  10. pop — to visit
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. march — music
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bore — to drill
  15. key — the most important part
  16. key — in music
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pop — soda
  19. hand — help
  20. spring — a coil
  21. key — for a lock
  22. march — the month
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. face — to point toward

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