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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — the tool
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. bore — to drill
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cold — an illness
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. bore — to tire
  13. rash — a series
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — to handle
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. shower — rain
  21. cold — not warm
  22. dip — to sink
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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