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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 116 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. bore — to drill
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. march — the month
  6. pit — in a race
  7. current — happening now
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pop — to visit
  11. march — music
  12. kid — child
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. current — electric
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bore — to tire
  20. pop — music
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — the month
  24. current — 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