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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 116 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. bore — to drill
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bass — low music
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bass — the fish
  7. court — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bore — to tire
  12. hand — help
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. court — of law
  15. tear — from crying
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. court — of a king
  24. cell — in biology

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