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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. drill — the tool
  3. mine — for digging
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. bore — to drill
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — not warm
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — army training
  11. scale — in music
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bore — to tire
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. plane — a tool
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cold — the Cold War

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