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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. bore — to tire
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bore — to drill
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. vault — a safe
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. mug — a cup
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — in football
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. mug — a face
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mug — to rob

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