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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. saw — the tool
  10. hand — help
  11. cold — an illness
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. spell — magic
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — of the year
  16. bore — to drill
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bore — to tire
  19. present — a gift
  20. march — the month
  21. present — there
  22. spell — letters
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. present — the time now

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