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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bore — to drill
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. cold — an illness
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — child
  19. cold — not warm
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. bore — to tire

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