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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. root — of a plant
  3. bore — to drill
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. land — to come down
  8. rock — music
  9. root — the cause
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. rock — a stone
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. dip — to sink
  18. land — a country
  19. root — of a word
  20. cold — an illness
  21. land — ground
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bore — to tire

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