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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 116 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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ground — the earth
  5. dip — to sink
  6. field — a subject
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. ground — crushed
  10. bore — to tire
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. rush — hurry
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. ground — a position
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. bore — to drill

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