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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. content — happy
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. race — a contest
  7. bore — to drill
  8. face — to confront
  9. race — the arms race
  10. hand — help
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. content — the amount
  13. face — to point toward
  14. branch — a division
  15. hand — in cards
  16. race — humankind
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. branch — of a tree

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