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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rush — hurry
  3. last — final
  4. sharp — clever
  5. last — finally
  6. rest — a break
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. last — to go on
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. bore — to drill
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bulb — for light
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bore — to tire
  20. rest — what's left
  21. chest — a box
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. rest — what's left

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