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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. race — the arms race
  3. content — the amount
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. spell — letters
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. shower — rain
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. field — a subject
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bore — to tire
  12. content — happy
  13. field — for sport
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. race — humankind
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bore — to drill
  19. field — farmland
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — to tease
  22. branch — a division
  23. shower — to wash
  24. race — a contest

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