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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. squash — to crush
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bore — to drill
  6. march — the month
  7. race — a contest
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. race — humankind
  10. march — music
  11. field — farmland
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. race — the arms race
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. field — for sport
  18. scale — in music
  19. field — a subject
  20. march — the month
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. scale — size or range
  24. leaves — to go away

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