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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rush — hurry
  5. vault — a safe
  6. cold — not warm
  7. clip — a video
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kick — in football
  11. spring — the season
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. spring — a coil
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. spring — of water
  24. bore — to tire

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