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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 116 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. ball — a dance
  10. kid — child
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. rock — music
  16. rock — a stone
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a great time
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kid — to tease
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bore — to drill
  24. bore — gave birth

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