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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. net — for catching
  4. bore — to tire
  5. pit — in a race
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cell — a phone
  9. suit — in cards
  10. suit — clothes
  11. net — in sport
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bore — to drill
  18. cell — in biology
  19. chest — of your body
  20. net — after costs
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. suit — to fit
  23. chest — a box
  24. degree — from a university

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