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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. chest — a box
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bore — to drill
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bore — to tire
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bear — the animal
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. degree — an amount
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bear — the animal

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