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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. dip — to sink
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bass — low music
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. nail — for a hammer

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