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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  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. bore — gave birth
  2. band — a ring
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. branch — a division
  8. bore — to tire
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. band — a music group
  11. race — the arms race
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. cold — an illness
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cold — not warm
  17. race — humankind
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. bore — to drill
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. branch — of a tree
  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