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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. pop — music
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. pop — to visit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. bore — to tire
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pop — soda
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. pass — a permit
  17. wound — an injury
  18. toast — bread
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. prune — to trim
  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