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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. dip — to sink
  6. bore — to drill
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bore — to tire
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. last — final
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — a gift
  13. bass — low music
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bass — the fish
  16. row — a line
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. present — there
  20. last — finally
  21. row — to paddle
  22. last — to go on
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. cold — an illness

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