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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. drill — the tool
  3. bore — to tire
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. last — to go on
  6. row — a line
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. bore — to drill
  9. pit — a hole
  10. rash — hasty
  11. drill — army training
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. last — final
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. rash — a series
  17. content — happy
  18. last — finally
  19. pit — in a race
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. drill — a practice

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