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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. wax — for sculpting
  2. drill — the tool
  3. can — to be able to
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. last — final
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. wax — to grow
  12. drill — army training
  13. bore — to drill
  14. can — a tin
  15. cell — a phone
  16. last — finally
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. stock — shares
  19. last — to go on
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. can — a tin
  22. stock — goods
  23. cell — in biology
  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