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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. band — a ring
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. ball — a great time
  5. date — the fruit
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a dance
  9. band — a music group
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. saw — the tool
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stand — to bear
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. mine — for digging
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bore — to drill

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