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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. ground — crushed
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. fall — to drop
  5. drill — the tool
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bore — to drill
  11. ground — the earth
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pound — a weight
  18. ground — a position
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bore — to tire
  22. drill — army training
  23. rash — a series
  24. fall — the season

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