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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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. last — final
  4. row — a line
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. drill — a practice
  7. last — to go on
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cue — a signal
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cold — an illness
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cue — for pool
  19. drill — army training
  20. last — finally
  21. bark — to shout
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bore — to drill
  24. cue — a hint

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