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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: bore · land · wake · deal · mate · chest · kid · straw

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bore — to tire
  3. land — to come down
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. mate — to breed
  8. deal — to handle
  9. kid — child
  10. chest — of your body
  11. land — a country
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bore — to drill
  16. kid — to tease
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. chest — a box
  22. wake — a trail
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. land — ground

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