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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. fall — the season
  4. row — a line
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bass — the fish
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — not warm
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bore — to tire
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. cold — an illness
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bass — low music
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — a division
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. row — to paddle

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