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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. tube — the underground
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. band — a music group
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. key — for a lock
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. key — in music
  11. net — after costs
  12. key — the most important part
  13. band — a ring
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bore — to drill
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. chest — a box
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. bore — to tire
  24. tube — a container

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