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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spell — magic
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. spell — a short time
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bore — to drill
  10. tube — a container
  11. bore — to tire
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tear — from crying
  14. scale — in music
  15. spell — letters
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. tear — to rip

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