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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. squash — to crush
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. net — after costs
  6. ball — a dance
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. land — a country
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. chest — a box
  12. net — for catching
  13. pit — in a race
  14. squash — the sport
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. net — in sport
  18. bore — to drill
  19. pit — a hole
  20. lie — to recline
  21. chest — of your body
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. ball — a round shape

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