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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  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. band — a music group
  2. bore — to drill
  3. spring — a coil
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. band — a ring
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. spring — of water
  10. stem — to come from
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. bore — to tire
  15. fall — to drop
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. spring — the season
  20. bat — the animal
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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