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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. mug — a cup
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. mug — to rob
  5. wind — moving air
  6. march — the month
  7. capital — money
  8. band — a music group
  9. bore — to drill
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wind — moving air
  12. march — music
  13. band — a ring
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. mug — a face
  19. march — the month
  20. bore — to tire
  21. capital — a city
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. plane — in geometry

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