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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: race · branch · pit · squash · bore · kid · spring · bat

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. spring — of water
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. squash — the sport
  7. pit — in a race
  8. spring — the season
  9. bat — the animal
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. squash — to crush
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. race — a contest
  22. branch — a division
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. spring — a coil

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