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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. cold — not warm
  3. staff — a stick
  4. can — a tin
  5. spell — letters
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spell — magic
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — to tire
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. staff — employees
  16. can — to be able to
  17. wound — an injury
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. spell — a short time
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. can — a tin
  24. racket — a loud noise

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