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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bass — low music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. present — a gift
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bore — to tire
  9. rash — hasty
  10. branch — a division
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bore — to drill
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. present — the time now
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. swing — music
  18. bass — the fish
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — a series
  21. swing — in golf
  22. present — there
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cold — not warm

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