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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. game — a match
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bore — to drill
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bore — to tire
  8. kick — in football
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stand — to bear
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. pop — soda
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pop — music
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ground — crushed
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. ground — a position
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. pop — to visit
  23. bat — the animal
  24. game — wild animals

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