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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bore — to drill
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. race — the arms race
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. pop — music
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. race — a contest
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pop — to visit
  18. race — humankind
  19. shower — rain
  20. pop — soda
  21. shower — to wash
  22. scale — in music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. scale — size or range

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