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

Word bank: ground · bowl · tear · root · kid · patient · capital · bore

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. bore — to tire
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. root — of a word
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — the cause
  18. ground — crushed
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bowl — to roll

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