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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. mine — for digging
  5. face — part of the head
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bore — to tire
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. game — a match
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. suit — clothes
  12. cap — a lid
  13. suit — in cards
  14. cold — not warm
  15. season — in sport
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cap — a hat
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — of the year
  21. suit — to fit
  22. cap — of ice
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. game — wild animals

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