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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rock — music
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fall — the season
  11. field — a subject
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rush — hurry
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bore — to drill
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rock — a stone
  18. field — farmland
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fall — to drop
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. bear — the animal
  23. field — for sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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