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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 words: he'll be late again.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. field — for sport
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mark — a grade
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mark — a trace
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. vault — a safe
  14. wound — an injury
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — a partner
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — gave birth

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