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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — not warm
  4. perch — the fish
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bore — to tire
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. land — ground
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. tear — to rip
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — a country
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitch — completely
  23. bound — certain
  24. bore — to drill

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