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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. cold — an illness
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. squash — to crush
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. pit — in a race
  10. row — a line
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. squash — the sport
  13. row — to paddle
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bore — to drill
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bore — to tire
  18. hand — help
  19. track — a song
  20. hand — in cards
  21. track — to keep track
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. track — a path
  24. pit — a hole

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