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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — to drill
  6. snap — to click
  7. file — a tool
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. file — a line of people
  11. band — a music group
  12. spring — the season
  13. press — a publisher
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — to push
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. wound — an injury
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. file — a document
  23. band — a ring
  24. spring — a coil

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