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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. staff — a stick
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pound — a weight
  6. staff — employees
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. ground — a position
  9. bass — the fish
  10. capital — a city
  11. cold — not warm
  12. prune — to trim
  13. staff — employees
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bass — low music
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. ground — the earth
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ground — crushed
  23. capital — money
  24. pound — for dogs

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