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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. mug — a cup
  3. lean — to bend
  4. chest — of your body
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. pound — a weight
  7. chest — of your body
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. season — in sport
  10. chest — a box
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. lean — thin
  13. scale — in music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bore — to tire
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. mug — a face
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bore — to drill
  22. mug — to rob
  23. cold — an illness
  24. scale — for weighing

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