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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bore — to drill
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. present — there
  6. band — a ring
  7. tear — from crying
  8. present — the time now
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. squash — to crush
  11. tear — to rip
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. band — a music group
  15. file — a document
  16. tear — from crying
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. present — a gift
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bore — to tire
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. squash — the sport

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