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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 116 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bore — to tire
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pit — in a race
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. squash — to crush
  13. lean — thin
  14. clip — a video
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bore — to drill
  18. lean — to bend
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. clip — for paper
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — an illness
  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