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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. cold — not warm
  4. march — music
  5. rule — a law
  6. club — for dancing
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. sharp — clever
  9. bore — to drill
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. club — for golf
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rule — government
  17. march — the month
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to tire
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cold — an illness
  24. march — the month

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