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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. tear — to rip
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. bass — low music
  7. chest — a box
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — the underground
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. kid — child
  13. tear — from crying
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bass — the fish
  19. chest — of your body
  20. kid — to tease
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. branch — a division
  23. tear — from crying
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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