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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 116 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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. field — a subject
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. field — for sport
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bore — to drill
  13. rest — a break
  14. key — for a lock
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. rest — what's left
  17. prune — to trim
  18. key — in music
  19. key — the most important part
  20. field — farmland
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. game — a match
  24. cold — an illness

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