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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. mate — to breed
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bore — to drill
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. field — a subject
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. mate — a friend
  14. rash — a series
  15. field — for sport
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. deal — to handle
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bore — to tire
  22. mate — a partner
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. field — farmland

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