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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. mine — for digging
  5. charge — electricity
  6. charge — in control
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. bore — to tire
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. charge — a price
  13. band — a ring
  14. lean — thin
  15. bore — to drill
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — to bend
  22. branch — a division
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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