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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. staff — a stick
  3. game — a match
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bore — to drill
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — to crush
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. staff — employees
  14. net — for catching
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. staff — employees
  17. prune — to trim
  18. net — in sport
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. net — after costs
  22. cold — an illness
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bore — gave birth

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