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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bore — to tire
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spring — a coil
  7. firm — a company
  8. bore — to drill
  9. last — final
  10. stem — to come from
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. firm — decided
  13. last — to go on
  14. degree — an amount
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. race — humankind
  18. last — finally
  19. race — a contest
  20. firm — steady
  21. spring — of water
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spring — the season
  24. race — the arms race

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