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

Word bank: date · kid · face · present · bore · wind · branch · content

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bore — to drill
  3. bore — to tire
  4. kid — to tease
  5. present — the time now
  6. face — part of the head
  7. content — happy
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. present — there
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. present — a gift
  14. date — the fruit
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. face — to confront
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — a division
  20. wind — moving air
  21. content — the amount
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wind — moving air
  24. content — videos and posts

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