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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 120 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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. march — the month
  3. band — a ring
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. clip — to cut
  6. march — the month
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. wound — an injury
  10. net — after costs
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. net — for catching
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. kid — to tease
  15. band — a music group
  16. kid — child
  17. clip — a video
  18. bore — to tire
  19. net — in sport
  20. wound — an injury
  21. march — music
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. clip — for paper

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