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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. land — to come down
  3. hand — in cards
  4. key — the most important part
  5. march — music
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. content — happy
  9. key — for a lock
  10. content — the amount
  11. key — in music
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bank — for money
  14. bore — to drill
  15. land — a country
  16. bank — of a river
  17. bank — for money
  18. land — ground
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. hand — help
  24. wound — an injury

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