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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. snap — to click
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. bat — the animal
  12. stand — to bear
  13. season — of the year
  14. cold — not warm
  15. season — in sport
  16. bore — to tire
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. bore — to drill
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. bore — gave birth

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