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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. ball — a great time
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rock — music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — to drill
  12. ball — a dance
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. branch — a division
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. rock — a stone
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. ball — a round shape

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