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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bore — to drill
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. content — the amount
  8. chest — of your body
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. chest — of your body
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bore — to tire
  14. content — happy
  15. shower — to wash
  16. deal — to handle
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. chest — a box
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. shower — rain
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. kick — in football

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