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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 120 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bore — to tire
  6. branch — a division
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. band — a music group
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. cell — a phone
  13. rule — a law
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. rule — government
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kid — child
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. bore — to drill
  20. foot — a measure
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. cell — in biology
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. bore — gave birth

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