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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. bore — to drill
  4. capital — money
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. face — to point toward
  7. face — to confront
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bore — to tire
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. perch — the fish
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. capital — a city
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. pass — a permit
  19. wound — an injury
  20. face — part of the head
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. perch — for a bird

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