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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · wound · bore · dip · season · cell · mate · tube

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. mate — a partner
  4. season — in sport
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mate — a friend
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. wind — moving air
  9. tube — the underground
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. dip — to sink
  13. tube — a container
  14. mate — to breed
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bore — to tire
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wind — moving air
  20. season — of the year
  21. bore — to drill
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. tube — in a 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