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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  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. content — happy
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — a container
  5. drill — a practice
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. squash — the sport
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. drill — the tool
  11. chair — a leader
  12. squash — to crush
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bore — to tire
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. content — the amount
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mate — to breed
  22. drill — army training
  23. bore — gave birth
  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