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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rule — government
  3. field — farmland
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. spring — of water
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — to drill
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. mate — to breed
  12. spring — the season
  13. field — for sport
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. mate — a partner
  19. field — a subject
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rule — a law
  23. mate — a friend
  24. spring — a coil

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