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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. chair — a leader
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. race — humankind
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. bore — to tire
  7. swing — music
  8. bore — to drill
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rock — a stone
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. race — a contest
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. face — to point toward
  24. rock — music

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