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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wound — an injury
  6. content — happy
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bore — to drill
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wound — an injury
  11. press — to push
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bore — to tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. content — the amount
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. press — newspapers
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. tube — a container
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. press — a publisher

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