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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. march — music
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cap — a lid
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. rule — government
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rule — a law
  9. cap — a hat
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. wax — to grow
  14. march — the month
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. board — to get on
  17. board — a committee
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — of ice

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