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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. last — final
  3. bark — to shout
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rush — hurry
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. court — of law
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. bore — to tire
  17. court — for sport
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. court — of a king
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. last — finally
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. cell — in biology
  24. last — to go on

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