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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 120 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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. field — farmland
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — not warm
  8. field — a subject
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bore — to tire
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. board — to get on
  14. season — of the year
  15. squash — the sport
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. season — in sport
  18. board — a committee
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. field — for sport
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chest — a box
  24. squash — to crush

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