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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. spring — of water
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. vault — a safe
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. bark — to shout
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bore — to drill
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — army training
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. drill — the tool
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — a coil

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