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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. present — the time now
  4. game — wild animals
  5. spring — the season
  6. bear — the animal
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bore — to drill
  10. court — of a king
  11. game — a match
  12. present — there
  13. shower — to wash
  14. court — of law
  15. court — for sport
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bear — the animal
  18. shower — rain
  19. cell — in biology
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. present — a gift
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. spring — of water

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