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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. bore — to drill
  7. rule — government
  8. band — a music group
  9. face — to point toward
  10. bore — to tire
  11. rule — a law
  12. chest — of your body
  13. face — part of the head
  14. kid — to tease
  15. face — to confront
  16. band — a ring
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. branch — a division
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rule — to rule out

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