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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kid — child
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. perch — the fish
  12. prune — to trim
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bore — to drill
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. prune — to trim
  21. chair — a leader
  22. bore — to tire
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. chest — a box

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