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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. spring — a coil
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. spring — the season
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. land — a country
  12. capital — a city
  13. bore — to drill
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spring — of water
  18. land — to come down
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. capital — money
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. file — a document
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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