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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bore — to drill
  3. land — to come down
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cap — a lid
  6. squash — to crush
  7. clip — a video
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. fall — the season
  11. game — wild animals
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bore — to tire
  14. squash — the sport
  15. land — ground
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cap — of ice
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — a country
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cap — a hat
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. game — a kind of play

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