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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ball — a dance
  13. chip — to eat
  14. chip — for betting
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bore — to drill
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — clever
  21. ball — a great time
  22. last — to go on
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bore — to tire

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