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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bore — to drill
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. last — final
  5. kid — child
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. club — for dancing
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bore — to tire
  15. clip — for paper
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. club — for golf
  18. last — finally
  19. cold — not warm
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. clip — to cut
  22. kid — to tease
  23. club — a group
  24. clip — a video

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