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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. ground — a position
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. kid — child
  9. mate — a partner
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bore — to drill
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. branch — a division
  15. bore — to tire
  16. ground — crushed
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. cold — an illness
  19. ground — the earth
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. kid — to tease
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a friend

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