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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. scale — in music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bore — to drill
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. stand — to bear
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cold — an illness
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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