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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cold — an illness
  5. band — a music group
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. scale — size or range
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — in music
  13. cold — not warm
  14. prune — to trim
  15. drill — the tool
  16. tube — a container
  17. lie — to recline
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. band — a ring
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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