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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bore — to tire
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bore — to drill
  5. bound — obliged
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bound — certain
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a ring
  19. bound — tied together
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wound — an injury
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. tear — to rip
  24. racket — a loud noise

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