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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 116 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — the underground
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. key — the most important part
  7. bore — to drill
  8. drill — army training
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. wound — an injury
  11. hand — help
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. key — for a lock
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. drill — the tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bore — to tire
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. key — in music
  24. sharp — with an edge

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