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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. bore — to drill
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bore — to tire
  6. plane — a tool
  7. lean — to bend
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. hand — help
  11. chest — a box
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. lean — thin
  20. shower — rain
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — a phone
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. hand — part of the body

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