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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. drill — the tool
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bore — to tire
  7. cap — of ice
  8. staff — a stick
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wound — an injury
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — employees
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. kid — to tease
  18. drill — army training
  19. bore — to drill
  20. drill — a practice
  21. kid — child
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bore — gave birth

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