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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bore — to drill
  4. march — the month
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. fall — to drop
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. march — the month
  9. snap — to click
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. march — music
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. fall — to drop
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cold — not warm
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. plane — a tool
  20. capital — money
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. fall — the season
  24. cold — an illness

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