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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. bore — to drill
  3. band — a music group
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. band — a ring
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. spring — the season
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. bass — the fish
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. pit — in a race
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — not warm
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bore — to tire
  22. bass — low music
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. spring — a coil

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