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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. bore — to drill
  4. content — happy
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. content — the amount
  8. hand — in cards
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hand — help
  12. pitch — completely
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. branch — a division
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. ball — a great time
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. stand — to bear
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. cold — an illness

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