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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. drill — army training
  4. present — a gift
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. cold — an illness
  7. drill — a practice
  8. mug — a face
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mug — to rob
  13. drill — the tool
  14. ground — crushed
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. bore — to drill
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mug — a cup
  19. vault — a safe
  20. bore — to tire
  21. ground — a position
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. present — the time now
  24. cold — not warm

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