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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. key — in music
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. rash — hasty
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. key — for a lock
  8. drill — a practice
  9. rash — a series
  10. key — the most important part
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — the tool
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bore — to drill
  16. spring — of water
  17. drill — the tool
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. spring — the season
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — an illness
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — the Cold War

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