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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chest — of your body
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. board — a committee
  8. last — final
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. cold — not warm
  17. last — finally
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bore — to tire
  21. cold — an illness
  22. board — to get on
  23. bat — the animal
  24. chest — a box

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