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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 120 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. bore — to drill
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — shares
  8. land — ground
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — goods
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wind — moving air
  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