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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spell — magic
  4. file — a tool
  5. bore — to drill
  6. swing — in golf
  7. file — a document
  8. swing — music
  9. spell — letters
  10. swing — to play on
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. spell — a short time
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bore — to tire
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. cold — not warm
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. prune — the fruit

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