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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bore — to drill
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. ball — a great time
  5. chest — of your body
  6. last — to go on
  7. bass — low music
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. squash — to crush
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ball — a dance
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. last — final
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — farmland
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. bore — to tire
  21. field — a subject
  22. last — finally
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bass — the fish

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