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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: root · pit · snap · bowl · row · bore · cold · scale

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. root — of a plant
  6. snap — to click
  7. bore — to drill
  8. row — a line
  9. root — of a word
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bore — to tire
  12. cold — an illness
  13. root — the cause
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. pit — a hole
  18. scale — in music
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. scale — size or range

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