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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bore — to drill
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bank — of a river
  6. band — a music group
  7. kid — to tease
  8. mine — for digging
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bank — for money
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bank — for money
  13. band — a ring
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pound — a weight
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. race — humankind
  24. bore — to tire

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