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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 116 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. bat — the animal
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bore — to tire
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. mate — a partner
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. hand — help
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. bore — to drill
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. band — a music group
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. hand — in cards
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a ring
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mate — a friend
  24. tube — the underground

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