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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bound — obliged
  5. last — final
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. last — finally
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bore — to drill
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bore — to tire
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. last — to go on
  24. bound — certain

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