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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bore — to tire
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spring — the season
  5. dip — to sink
  6. spring — of water
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. race — a contest
  9. press — newspapers
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mate — a friend
  13. press — a publisher
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cold — an illness
  16. race — humankind
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. rash — a series
  20. press — to push
  21. mate — to breed
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bore — to drill

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