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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. content — happy
  3. shower — to wash
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. hand — in cards
  8. shower — rain
  9. bore — to drill
  10. bass — low music
  11. content — the amount
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. rest — what's left
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. lie — to recline
  17. rest — a break
  18. hand — help
  19. rest — what's left
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. row — a line
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. bass — the instrument

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