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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. rock — music
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. wake — a trail
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rash — hasty
  15. spring — of water
  16. scale — size or range
  17. spring — the season
  18. chair — a leader
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rash — a series
  21. scale — in music
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. scale — for weighing

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