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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. file — a document
  3. bore — to tire
  4. drill — army training
  5. file — a line of people
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wind — moving air
  8. court — for sport
  9. file — a tool
  10. dip — to sink
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. court — of law
  14. bore — to drill
  15. wind — moving air
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. cold — an illness
  19. kid — child
  20. court — of a king
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. drill — a practice

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