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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. present — a gift
  3. last — final
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. bore — to tire
  6. present — there
  7. bore — to drill
  8. club — for dancing
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. club — a group
  14. last — finally
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. present — the time now
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. club — for golf
  20. cold — an illness
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. last — to go on
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. racket — for tennis

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