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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. present — a gift
  4. lie — to recline
  5. fall — to drop
  6. clip — a video
  7. present — the time now
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fall — the season
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cell — a phone
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bore — to tire
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bore — to drill

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