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

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bore — to tire
  4. tube — the underground
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. drill — the tool
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. drill — a practice
  14. squash — to crush
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bore — to drill
  17. tube — a container
  18. drill — army training
  19. scale — size or range
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. scale — in music
  23. fall — the season
  24. fall — to drop

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