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

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bore — to tire
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. chest — of your body
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. rule — a law
  9. roll — a list
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. roll — a cake
  14. capital — money
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. rule — government
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. capital — a city
  22. chest — a box
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bore — gave birth

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