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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bore — to drill
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bore — to tire
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. bass — low music
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — to rip
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. tear — from crying
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. cold — not warm
  22. tear — from crying
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. cold — an illness

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