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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. race — a contest
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. drill — army training
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. race — the arms race
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. mine — for digging
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bore — to tire
  20. race — humankind
  21. cold — not warm
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cold — an illness
  24. trunk — of a car

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