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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wind — moving air
  5. club — a group
  6. mate — a partner
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bore — to drill
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stem — to come from
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stand — to bear
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mate — a friend
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. bore — to tire
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. mate — to breed
  24. stand — on your feet

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