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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bore — to drill
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. spring — the season
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. spring — a coil
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. face — part of the head
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. spring — of water
  13. prune — to trim
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. cell — in biology
  16. face — to confront
  17. kick — in football
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. prune — to trim
  20. face — to point toward
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bore — to tire
  23. cell — a phone
  24. sharp — clever

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