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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 116 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fork — in a road
  6. spring — a coil
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. field — farmland
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. field — for sport
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. field — a subject
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bore — to tire
  20. spring — of water
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bore — to drill
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. spring — 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