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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. mug — a cup
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. swing — to play on
  9. bore — to tire
  10. chest — of your body
  11. band — a music group
  12. swing — music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mug — to rob
  15. branch — a division
  16. mug — a face
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. band — a ring
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. bore — to drill

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