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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — of your body
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. race — humankind
  5. bore — to drill
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bore — to tire
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. pop — soda
  15. race — a contest
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. race — the arms race
  18. shower — rain
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pop — music
  21. chest — a box
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pop — to visit
  24. prune — the fruit

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