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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mine · present · fall · perch · bore · bowl · tear · saw

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. perch — the fish
  6. bore — to tire
  7. fall — to drop
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fall — the season
  16. bore — to drill
  17. present — the time now
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. present — there
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. mine — for digging

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